Pannun Assassination Plot: India Tells US ‘CC1’ Arrested, 'No Longer Government Official'

India informed the US of the arrest of 'CC1,' indicted for a failed assassination attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (File photo)

New Delhi: India has informed the United States about the arrest of a suspect identified as 'CC1,' who was named in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment for orchestrating a failed assassination attempt on American national Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, according to a report by Hindustan Times. 

The development comes amid India’s relations with Canada is at an all-time low after New Delhi’s strongly worded response to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau government for naming Indian diplomats in the alleged assassination plot of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Both Pannun and Nijjar are Khalistani terrorist.  

The HT report further specified that on questions of whether both developments were deliberately coincided, the US Official told that the ‘timing’ of these events are completely ‘not related’. 

Asked if there was a degree of coordination behind all these developments, the US official told Hindustan Times that the “timing” was “not related at all”, and there had just been a “remarkable overlap”. 

The same report by Hindustan Times follows a statement from the U.S. State Department, which announced that an Indian government committee investigating India's role in the plot to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun will travel to Washington this week for discussions with U.S. officials. The report also mentioned that India has conveyed the US that the suspect, known as 'CC1,' is no longer a government official. 

Notably, Nikhil Gupta, identified as 'CC1' in a U.S. indictment, has been accused of involvement in an alleged failed assassination plot targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun a pro-Khalistani terrorist designated by India.  

Earlier in June, Gupta was extradited from the Czech Republic to the United States, where he pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges. The U.S. Department of Justice has alleged that Gupta, 52, is associated with the Indian government and, along with others, conspired to carry out the assassination in New York City.