After the US department of justice (DoJ) named former R&AW agent Vikas Yadav (also known as Vikash Yadav), in an attempt to murder case of a Khalistani terrorist, on October 17, it was learnt that the former government employee was arrested by the Delhi police ten months ago on charges of kidnapping and attempt to murder of a Delhi-based businessman.
US prosecutors have charged Yadav for his alleged involvement in a failed attempt to kill the Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The Delhi police arrested Vikas Yadav in December last year following a complaint by the businessman who alleged Yadav and his accomplice kidnapped him.
Businessman kidnapped by Yadav
According to the complaint filed by the businessman, he met Yadav in November 2023 who introduced himself as a senior government officer. The two exchanged mobile numbers to stay in touch.
“In November last year, one of my friends introduced me to Yadav as a senior government official and we exchanged numbers. We became good friends, but never spoke about business since he was a government official. However, he had always shown curiosity about my friends, who are based abroad, and also enquired about how I do money transactions with them,” the businessman alleged in his complaint.
The complaint states that Yadav was often intrigued about the businessman’s friends but divulged little about himself.
On December 11 last year, Yadav asked the businessman to meet him at Lodhi Road. On reaching the destination, the businessman stated that Yadav was accompanied by an accomplice.
The two men forcibly kidnapped the businessman and took him to a flat in Defence Colony. The businessman was told that Yadav was given a contract by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to kill him.
The businessman was allegedly hit on the head. Yadav’s accomplice took away the gold chain and some rings. He claimed they also visited a cafe that he runs and took cash from his outlet.
The businessman was eventually dropped on a street with a warning of dire consequences if he reported the incident to the police.
Yadav’s arrest and subsequent bail
Yadav and his accomplice were picked up by the police the next day. As per the chargesheet filed before a Delhi court on March 13 this year, the men were booked under IPC Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 364A (abduction), 506 (threatening), 341 (wrongful confinement), 328 (poisoning) and Section 25/27 of the Arms Act.
He was lodged in Tihar jail. However, on March 22, Yadav was granted interim bail which turned into a regular bail in April.
US charges against Yadav
Vikas Yadav faces three charges: conspiracy to hire a hitman, the actual “murder-for-hire” plot, and money laundering. The charges against him and his alleged co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta, were unsealed in the Federal Southern District of New York Court on Thursday.
According to the accusation, Yadav recruited Gupta to carry out Pannu’s assassination in exchange for clearing the latter’s name from criminal records. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and was extradited to the US in June.
“Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the Victim (Gurpatwant Singh Pannun) in the United States and that under Yadav’s directions, Gupta contacted a government “confidential source” who he thought was “a criminal associate,” the accusation said.
In June 2023, they hired a hitman to kill Pannu. However, the hitman was an undercover US law enforcement officer.
In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York.
Gupta reiterated his innocence and asked the court through his lawyer for the return of a prayer book that had been confiscated from him after his arrest in the Czech Republic.
As a procedural matter, Gupta was asked by the judge whether he pleaded guilty or not to the charges against him and he said he is not guilty, which means a full trial will go ahead.
About 20 Sikhs were in the courtroom to watch the proceedings, while outside there was a protest with Khalistani flags.
