Exposed to serious threat: Ex-RAW officer charged for ‘plotting to kill’ Pannun

Vikas Yadav, a former officer of India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), who was indicted by the United States in an alleged plot to murder Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, informed a Delhi court on Saturday that he faces serious threats to his life from nefarious elements.
Citing the threat, Yadav sought exemption from physical appearance in relation to an extortion and kidnapping case where he is an accused and the court approved his request. Yadav was arrested in December 2023 in relation to the case by the Delhi Police Special Cell and was granted bail earlier this year.
Yadav, represented by Advocates RK Handoo and Aditya Chaudhary, argued that “false and frivolous allegations” had been made against him, and his personal details had been widely publicised, exposing him to “serious threats”.
“The particulars of the applicant, such as his residence, his background along with his photographs have been published all over the world, exposing the applicant to serious threat to his life from nefarious elements,” the application said.
The plea further stated that he is being relentlessly pursued by “inimical elements” conducting continuous surveillance in an attempt to track him down at all possible locations, leaving him with no choice but to seek safety in seclusion.
“The threat to the life of the applicant is clear, present, grave, imminent and potential and physical appearance of the applicant before the court is likely to lend an opportunity to annihilate the applicant,” Yadav’s plea said.
According to the application, the threat to his life is grave and imminent, and his physical appearance before the court could provide an opportunity for his assassination.
Yadav also argued against appearing via video conferencing, stating that his location could be traced using technology.
The court granted him exemption for the hearing yesterday and the next hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 3, 2025.
In October, the United States charged Yadav, accusing him of being a co-conspirator in Pannun’s assassination plot, for which another Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, had already been charged.
The indictment claimed that Yadav and Gupta had hired someone to execute the assassination for USD 100,000, only to learn that the person they contracted was actually an FBI informant.
Yadav rejected these allegations and said he was made a scapegoat.