India slams report naming RAW officer for Pannun murder plot

India's Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday termed it unsubstantiated and unwarranted the Washington Post report which allegedly implicates a RAW officer in the assassination plot on Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Pannun.

Responding to the report, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that such speculative and irresponsible comments are not helpful since a high-level committee set up by the Indian government is probing the matter.

"The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter. 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 US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists, and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful."

The report by the US-based newspaper names one RAW officer Vikram Yadav, claiming that he had hired a hit team and plotted an attack on Pannun on American soil.

The report further claimed that Yadav, who is said to be working with a different government organisation now, forwarded details about Pannun, including his New York address, to the hit team.