Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.
Credit: X/@RT_India_news
Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was reportedly spotted at one of the inauguration balls attended by US President Donald Trump and raised anti-India slogans, a report in The Times of India said.
Videos circulating on social media show Pannun chanting 'Khalistan Zindabad' at The Liberty Ball during the ceremony, while other attendees were heard chanting pro-US slogans.
As per Time Now report, the Khalistani separatist was not invited to the event. The Sikh For Justice General Counsel Pannun reportedly bought tickets through some contact.
Pannun was seen standing in the crowd, far away from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other leaders at the event.
Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. He has been under the scrutiny of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) since 2019. Pannun, who was declared a terrorist by India on July 1, 2020, has been actively exhorting Punjab-based gangsters and youth over social media to challenge the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. He was declared a "Proclaimed Offender" on November 29, 2022.
In 2023, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York. Gupta, arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14.
India has denied the allegations but has constituted an internal investigations team to look into it.
Earlier, he had also filed a civil lawsuit against the Government of India and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval after which the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued summons in the case.
The lawsuit has been filed against the Government of India and Doval and Nikhil Gupta.
Last year, the NIA confiscated Pannun's house and land in Amritsar and Chandigarh.
(With PTI inputs)