The United States Secret Service Officials, who were guarding the Blair House during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February, thwarted Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s plan to serve summons to Indian NSA Ajit Doval who was accompanying the PM. Pannun claimed that he had managed to get the summon delivered to Doval, but India rejected the claim. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri had earlier described the claims as ‘unwarranted and unsubstantiated’.
According to a report by Time of India, when the Pannun’s agent/server was trying to place the summon at the gate of Blair House, the US Secret Service agents guarding the president’s guest house threatened to arrest him, following which the server left and dropped the summons with a nearby Starbucks store.
The details were revealed during a US court’s response to a letter from Pannun’s lawyer. The court noted that dropping the summons at a Starbucks store didn’t prove to be enough for the court to continue the case. The US court noted, ‘the complaint was not delivered to a member of the hotel management or staff or any officers or agents providing security for Defendant (Doval), as required by the court’s order’.
The summons was issued in September 2024 after Pannun filed a lawsuit alleging a murder plot against him. The American authorities had earlier blamed an Indian government agent named Vikash Yadav but a probe by New Delhi confirmed that Yadav was an ex-employee. Another Indian national Nikhil Gupta is in US custody for his alleged involvement in the case.
Pannun is a wanted criminal in India and poses a security threat to the country.