By Krishn Kaushik
PRANPURA, India (Reuters) – An Indian ex-official charged by the U.S. with directing a murder-for-hire plot has dismissed the allegations, his household stated, expressing shock that Vikash Yadav was wished by the FBI.
Yadav, 39, described the claims as false media studies when he spoke to his cousin, Avinash Yadav, the relative informed Reuters on Saturday of their ancestral village about 100 km (60 miles) from the capital New Delhi.
The U.S. Division of Justice charged Yadav with main an unsuccessful plot to homicide Sikh separatist chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun final 12 months. Yadav was an official of India’s Analysis and Evaluation Wing spy service, in response to the indictment unsealed on Thursday.
India, which has stated it was investigating the allegations, stated Yadav was not a authorities worker, with out saying whether or not he had been an intelligence officer.
“The household has no data” about him working for the spy company, Yadav’s cousin stated within the village of Pranpura in Haryana state. “He by no means talked about something about it,” regardless of the 2 talking to one another often.
“For us he’s nonetheless working for the CRPF,” the federal Central Reserve Police Drive, which he joined in 2009, stated Avinash Yadav, 28. “He informed us he’s deputy commandant” and was skilled as a paratrooper.
The cousin stated he didn’t know the place Yadav was however that he lives together with his spouse and a daughter who was born final 12 months.
Indian officers haven’t commented on Yadav’s whereabouts. The Washington Submit, citing American officers, reported on Thursday that Yadav was nonetheless in India and that the U.S. was anticipated to hunt his extradition.
His mom, Sudesh Yadav, 65, stated she was nonetheless in shock. “What can I say? I have no idea whether or not the U.S. authorities is telling the reality or not.”
“He has been working for the nation,” she stated.
The U.S. accuses Yadav of directing one other Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, who it alleges paid a hitman paid $15,000, to kill Pannun.
However in Pranpura, Yadav’s cousin pointed to the household’s modest, single-storey home, saying, “The place will a lot cash come from? Are you able to see any Audis and Mercedes lined up exterior this home?”
Many of the village’s almost 500 households have historically despatched younger males to hitch the safety forces, locals stated.
Yadav’s father, who died in 2007, was an officer with India’s border pressure until he died in 2007, and his brother works with the police in Haryana, stated Avinash Yadav.
One other cousin, Amit Yadav, 41, stated Vikash Yadav had been a quiet boy fascinated by books and athletics and was a national-level marksman.
“Solely the federal government of India and Vikash know what has occurred,” he stated, including that Indian officers ought to inform them.
If the federal government “abandons” a paramilitary officer, Amit Yadav stated, “then who will work for them?”
Avinash Yadav stated: “We would like the Indian authorities to help us, they need to inform us what has occurred. In any other case the place will we go?”
