MUMBAI: A Delhi court has issued a non-bailable warrant against former RAW officer Vikash Yadav, who was named by the US in a “murder-for-hire” plot and money laundering targeting New York-based Sikh Khalistani leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, after he failed to appear in a case of alleged kidnapping and extortion.
The order passed by additional sessions judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler of Patiala House Courts noted that Yadav was absent “despite repeated calls”. The court directed, “Issue NBWs [non-bailable warrants] against accused Vikas Yadav and notice to his surety for October 17”.
Court records show that a member of Yadav’s family had stood surety in the case, The Indian Express reported. Yadav had been granted exemption from appearance in previous hearings after his lawyer moved an application.
In November 2023, US prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with attempting to murder Pannun, saying he was acting under the direction of an Indian government official identified at the time only as “CC-1.”
Three weeks later, on December 18, 2023, Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested Yadav in a separate case of kidnapping and extortion, based on a complaint by a resident of Rohini, Delhi. He was granted bail in April 2024 after spending four months in Tihar Jail. His whereabouts since his release are not known.
In October 2024, US authorities unsealed a second superseding indictment naming “CC-1” as Vikash Yadav, describing him as an official with the Cabinet Secretariat under the Indian Prime Minister’s Office. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs later said he was “no longer an employee of the government of India.”
Five days before Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement that a high-powered government committee has recommended “legal action” against “an individual”.
