Vikas Yadav, a former officer of India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), who was indicted by the United States in a the alleged plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannuninformed a Delhi court on Saturday that he was facing serious threats to his life from nefarious elements.

Citing threat, Yadav sought exemption from physical appearance in connection with an extortion and kidnapping case in which he is accused, and the court granted his request. Yadav was arrested in December 2023 in connection with the case by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and was granted bail earlier this year.

Yadav, represented by lawyers RK Handoo and Aditya Chaudhary, alleged that “false and frivolous allegations” were made against him and his personal details were widely publicized, exposing him to “serious threats”.

“The applicant’s details such as his residence, background as well as his photographs were published all over the world, exposing the applicant to grave threat to his life due to nefarious elements,” the petition said.

The plea further said that he is relentlessly pursued by “enemy elements” who conduct continuous surveillance in an attempt to find him in all possible locations, leaving him with no option but to seek safety in solitary confinement.

“The threat to the applicant’s life is clear, present, serious, imminent and potential and the applicant’s physical appearance before the court is such as to provide an opportunity to annihilate him,” Yadav’s plea said.

According to the petition, the threat to his life is serious and imminent and his physical appearance before the court could provide an opportunity for his assassination.

Yadav also argued against appearing via video conference, saying his location could be tracked using technology.

The court granted him immunity from physical appearance and scheduled the case for a hearing on February 3, 2025.

In October, the The United States has indicted Yadavaccusing him of being a co-conspirator in the plot to assassinate Pannun, for which another Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, had already been charged.

The indictment alleged that Yadav and Gupta hired someone to carry out the assassination for $100,000, only to learn that the person they hired was actually an FBI informant.

Yadav rejected these allegations and said he was made a scapegoat.