The United States on Wednesday confirmed that a person identified as “CC1” in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment related to the alleged foiled assassination plot of the US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is “no longer an employee of the Indian government.”
As reported by Hindustan Times, India had earlier conveyed to the US that it had arrested the person identified as “CC1”.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, confirmed the development, adding that the White House is satisfied with India’s cooperation in the investigation.
Miller said that the meeting with the Indian Inquiry Committee regarding the foiled assassination plot of Pannun was “productive”.
“It was a productive meeting. They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government,” Miller said.
“We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” he added.
Who is CC1?
The DOJ indictment had identified “CC1” as a serving government of India official and implicated this person as directing the alleged assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a designated terrorist in India who happened to be an American national, in New York in June 2023. In a story in April this year, the Washington Post identified CC1 as Vikram Yadav.
Last November, the US prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national for an alleged assassination plot to eliminate Pannun in New York.
Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14. India has denied the allegations but has constituted an internal investigations team to look into it.
The US had alleged that the accused, Nikhil Gupta, is an associate of an employee of the Indian government and that together, they and others helped plot the assassination of Pannun in New York City.
Earlier in June, Gupta was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US to stand trial, where he pleaded ‘not guilty.’
In July this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) extended the ban on Pannun’s Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for another five years.
According to the ministry, Pannun’s SFJ is known for “anti-national and subversive activities in Punjab, with the intention to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.”