iNDICA NEWS BUREAU- The FBI is aggressively probing the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco and the agency has told Indian authorities that it will be able to share credible leads soon. FBI director Christopher Wray on a three-day visit to India assured Indian government officials about progress in the consulate attack probe. A group of Khalistan supporters attacked the Indian Consulate in March and again in July this year. The meeting between the FBI and NIA comes close on the heels of the US government’s allegations that there was an Indian link to a foiled attempt to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. The US has sought the extradition of an Indian national Nikhil Gupta from the Czech Republic. The US authorities have alleged that under the direction of an unnamed Indian government employee, Gupta, 52, conspired to kill Pannun. Czech law enforcement authorities arrested Gupta in June this year. External affairs minister S Jaishankar told the parliament last week that India has set up an inquiry committee to look into inputs provided by the US in connection with the alleged plot to kill the Khalistani leader because the matter has a bearing on national security. He added that the US inputs were of concern to India because they related to the nexus of organized crime, trafficking, and other matters. The importance of carrying out this probe and bringing the culprits to book had been reiterated by US principal deputy national security advisor Jonathan Finer, who visited New Delhi on December 4. In a statement issued by Whitehouse Finer acknowledged “India’s establishment of a Committee of Enquiry to investigate lethal plotting in the United States and the importance of holding accountable anyone found responsible.” During his visit, Wray met the director of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Dinkar Gupta. He also met CBI chief Praveen Sood and discussed several issues that included the extradition of suspects wanted by India, and cyber-enabled financial crimes. The intelligence agencies discussed the ways of sharing real-time intelligence and security threats in the cybercrime domain. The chiefs of the FBI and NIA held talks on bolstering cooperation to tackle global terrorism. The dialogue between the two agencies also focused on terrorist-organized criminal networks. Wray stressed the need to strengthen the partnership between the FBI and the NIA for counterterrorism measures.
Credible leads on Indian Consulate attack soon: FBI director in India
