‘Regularly working’ with India in probe on alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist leader: U.S.

US collaborates with India in investigating alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader; India rejects claims, investigation ongoing.

The United States is "regularly working" with India in its investigation into the allegations related to the plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. State Department official has said. The remarks by U.S. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel came after The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, named a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer in connection with the alleged plot to kill Pannun on American soil last year.

India on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims, saying that the report made "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputations on a serious matter and that an investigation into the case was underway.

Addressing his daily news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Patel said, “We continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian inquiry committee’s work, and we are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates.”

“We’ll also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian Government at senior levels, but beyond that, I’m not going to parse into this further and will defer to the Department of Justice,” Mr. Patel said when asked about The Washington Post report, which identified the R&AW officer as Vikram Yadav and alleged that he was involved in the plot to assassinate Pannun.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday slammed the report by the U.S. daily.

"The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter," he said in New Delhi. Mr. Jaiswal said a high-level inquiry committee set up by New Delhi to look into inputs provided by the US on the alleged plot was still probing the case.

"There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the U.S. government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others," he said.