India, US confirm ‘CC1’, key figure in plot to kill Khalistani leader Pannun, ‘no longer’ Indian govt employee

Gupta, who was arrested from Prague last year and deported to the US, is currently being prosecuted in the US. The US Justice Department had said an Indian government employee, only identified as CC1 in the indictment, had recruited Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination that was foiled by US authorities.

Without elaborating on the composition of the committee, Jaiswal said “two members of the high level enquiry committee” had travelled to the US. “We have been telling you that we have taken these inputs very seriously and we remain engaged with the US side on this particular matter,” he said.

The US described the meeting between the Indian committee members and US government officials as “productive”, saying both sides shared updates on their investigations. Responding to a question on what was shared by the Indian side, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing on Wednesday: “They did inform us that the individual named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government.”

He said the US was “satisfied” with India’s cooperation. “It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation, and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” he said.

“The fact that they sent an enquiry committee here, I think, demonstrates that they are taking this seriously. It is something they absolutely need to take seriously,” he said.

Asked if the US government has sought more meetings with the Indian committee, Miller said he had no further announcements to make on this issue.

As reported by The Indian Express earlier, the committee is learnt to include a Deputy National Security Advisor and an official of the National Security Council Secretariat, both retired IPS officers.