US: TAKE PANNUN CASE SERIOUSLY, WAITING FOR PROBE OUTCOME

NEW DELHI: India should take seriously the murder-for-hire plot related to Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the US awaits results of the probe India is conducting, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.

India had in Nov formed a high-level committee to probe information shared by the US on the foiled plot to assassinate Pannun, a US national designated terrorist by India, allegedly masterminded by an Indian govt official. While India has so far been silent about the outcome, a US media report identified the Indian official and claimed the plot had been approved by then RAW chief Samant Goel. India had said in its response that the report made unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter.

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“They (Indian govt) opened a committee of inquiry to look into the matter, and that work is ongoing; we’ll wait to see the results. But we made it very clear that it’s something that we are taking seriously, and we think they, too, should take this seriously,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a media briefing.

Miller, however, did not comment on the arrests of Indian nationals in Canada for the murder of another Khalistan separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. “I would refer you to the Canadian authorities to speak on the details of the investigation there. With respect to the indictment that was returned in the US, I will let the Department of Justice speak on behalf of that in detail.”

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“And then the only thing further I would say: when it comes to the State Department, we had made it clear right when these allegations were first made public that it’s something we think India should take very seriously and investigate,” Miller added.