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 mentioned, expressing shock that Vikash Yadav was wished by the FBI.
Yadav, 39, described the claims as false media reviews when he spoke to his cousin, Avinash Yadav, the relative advised 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 keeping with the indictment unsealed on Thursday.
India, which has mentioned it was investigating the allegations, mentioned Yadav was now not a authorities worker, with out saying whether or not he had been an intelligence officer.
“The family has no information” about him working for the spy company, Yadav’s cousin mentioned within the village of Pranpura in Haryana state. “He never mentioned anything about it,” regardless of the 2 talking to one another recurrently.
“For us he is still working for the CRPF,” the federal Central Reserve Police Drive, which he joined in 2009, mentioned Avinash Yadav, 28. “He told us he is deputy commandant” and was skilled as a paratrooper.
The cousin mentioned he didn’t know the place Yadav was however that he lives along 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, mentioned she was nonetheless in shock. “What can I say? I do not know whether the U.S. government is telling the truth or not.”
“He has been working for the country,” she mentioned.
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, “Where will so much money come from? Can you see any Audis and Mercedes lined up outside this house?”
A lot of the village’s almost 500 households have historically despatched younger males to hitch the safety forces, locals mentioned.
Yadav’s father, who died in 2007, was an officer with India’s border power until he died in 2007, and his brother works with the police in Haryana, mentioned Avinash Yadav.
One other cousin, Amit Yadav, 41, mentioned Vikash Yadav had been a quiet boy all for books and athletics and was a national-level marksman.
“Only the government of India and Vikash know what has happened,” he mentioned, including that Indian officers ought to inform them.
If the federal government “abandons” a paramilitary officer, Amit Yadav mentioned, “then who will work for them?”
Avinash Yadav mentioned: “We want the Indian government to support us, they should inform us what has happened. Otherwise where will we go?”
