A former Indian government official now facing charges in the United States for allegedly directing a foiled assassination plot was already on the radar of Delhi Police months earlier in a violent attempted murder case.

From US Indictment to Indian FIR

In October 2024, U.S. authorities unsealed an indictment naming 39-year-old Vikash Yadav as the alleged handler of a murder-for-hire conspiracy targeting Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
According to the indictment, from around May 2023 Yadav, described as a serving Indian government employee at the time, allegedly worked with associates in India and abroad to plan Pannun’s killing, who holds both U.S. and Canadian citizenship.

But long before his name became headline material abroad, Yadav was already under arrest in India. Court filings and police records show that Delhi Police picked him up on 18 December in the capital in connection with an attempted murder case.

Businessman’s Kidnapping Allegation

The Delhi case stems from a complaint filed by a businessman who alleged he was kidnapped, assaulted and extorted by Yadav and an associate.

According to a February 23 district court order summarising the complaint, the businessman said he was lured to a meeting and then forcibly taken to a flat, where he was beaten and threatened.

The complainant alleged that the attackers demanded money in the name of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, a high-profile organised crime figure facing dozens of cases including murder and extortion.
The court order stated that the accused also took a cheque book from the businessman’s café, obtained his signatures on blank cheques, and later dropped him near his car after issuing threats to keep quiet.

Delhi Police registered a case invoking sections related to attempted murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and other offences before arresting Yadav and his alleged accomplice.

Defence Claims ‘International Plot’

Yadav’s lawyer, R.K. Handoo, has dismissed the Indian criminal case as baseless, calling the charges “fallacious” and alleging there is an “international plot” aimed at tarnishing both the Indian government and his client.
He has declined to go into further detail publicly, and neither he nor the police have clarified Yadav’s exact current custodial status.

Meanwhile, reports citing American officials say Yadav remains in India and that Washington is expected to formally seek his extradition in connection with the foiled New York plot.

Bishnoi Link, Canada Angle Add Layers

The reference to Lawrence Bishnoi in the businessman’s complaint adds another sensitive layer to the case. Bishnoi, jailed in Gujarat, has been described by India’s National Investigation Agency as a major gang leader whose network spans multiple states.
In a separate diplomatic row, Canadian authorities have accused Indian agents of links to Bishnoi’s gang and of involvement in targeting Indian dissidents on Canadian soil, allegations New Delhi has strongly denied.

Taken together, these strands show Yadav at the centre of overlapping controversies: a U.S.-led murder-for-hire case involving a vocal Sikh separatist, an Indian attempted murder and extortion FIR tied to a feared gangster’s name, and wider questions over how state power and criminal networks intersect across borders.