Aggressively probing attack on Indian consulate in San Francisco: FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is “aggressively” investigating the attacks on the Indian consulate in San Francisco on March 19 and July 2 this year, chief of the premier US agency Christopher Wray told the director general of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Dinkar Gupta, during a high-level meeting in Delhi on Tuesday.

Gupta told the FBI delegation led by Wray, which visited the NIA headquarters, that the nexus of terrorists and gangsters was “spreading to the US as well”.

“Christopher A Wray, FBI director, leading a high-level FBI delegation, visited the NIA headquarters on Tuesday and held extensive discussions with NIA DG Dinkar Gupta and senior officials...During the meeting, candid and wide-ranging discussions were held on a host of issues, including the acts and activities of terrorist-organised criminal networks, ongoing investigations in the US in the attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco, investigation of cyber terror and cybercrimes of various kinds,” an NIA spokesperson said in a statement.

“Wray also informed the NIA that the FBI was aggressively investigating the attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco,” the statement added.

On July 2, India’s consulate in San Francisco came under an attack from Khalistan supporters who tried to set the diplomatic facility on fire. The attack came following the killing of separatist Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Earlier, on March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan protesters attacked and damaged the Indian consulate in San Francisco. Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, the protesters broke open the makeshift security barriers raised by the local police and installed two so-called Khalistani flags inside the consulate premises. Two consulate personnel soon removed these flags.

A team of the NIA visited San Fransisco in August to collect evidence, including CCTV footage, and exchange information regarding the attacks with local law enforcement agencies there.

The FBI chief is in India to meet top security and intelligence officials to discuss various topics of mutual cooperation, sharing information, cybercrimes, extradition, etc. He met Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Praveen Sood on Monday.

The visit, though planned in May itself, came against the backdrop of activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from the US and Canadian soil and an indictment filed by US prosecutors in a federal court in Manhattan last month, which alleged an Indian government employee who described himself as a “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence had ordered the assassination of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Officials familiar with the developments said the Khalistan issue and extradition of fugitives has been discussed in detail by both the CBI and NIA in their separate meetings with the FBI.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Gupta “highlighted the active nexus between the terrorist outfits and terrorist elements with members of organised criminal syndicates, which was spreading to the US as well,” the NIA spokesperson said.

Wray underscored that both the agencies have a lot in common and the similarities are far greater than the differences.

“On the nexus between terror actors and organised crime syndicates, Wray said a blending of lines between terrorists and criminals was now visible in the cyberspace as well,” the NIA added.

Speaking about the impact of the 9/11 attacks in the US and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Wray said during the meeting that these terror attacks “have changed the way in which nations respond to terror threats”.

During the meeting, Gupta pointed out that threats in the cyber domain were increasing. He said the NIA was also seeing the use of cryptocurrency for terrorist financing, according to the spokesperson.

The issue of obtaining data from encrypted apps was also taken up during the meeting. “The difficulties encountered by the law enforcement agencies across the world in obtaining data from encryption apps also came up for discussion during the meeting,” the spokesperson said.

US principal deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer, who visited New Delhi earlier this month, had informed his Indian interlocutors of the importance of holding accountable anyone found responsible for allegedly plotting to kill Pannun on American soil.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar told 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. The US inputs were of concern to India because they related to the nexus of organised crime, trafficking and other matters, he said.

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