NEW YORK: The United States has filed charges against an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot targeting an American citizen and political activist in New York. The intended victim, advocating for a separate state for the Sikh community within India, has not been named in court documents. US Attorney Damian Williams emphasized the severity of the plot, stating, “We will not tolerate efforts to assassinate US citizens on US soil.” The victim is believed to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel for Sikhs for Justice, an organization based in New York advocating for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan within India. The indictment suggests that Gupta was directed by an Indian government employee to orchestrate the assassination, heightening tensions between the US and India.
US Authorities Foil India’s Assassination Plot
The court documents revealed that the Indian government employee collaborated with Gupta to hire a hitman for the assassination attempt. The Indian government employee agreed to pay $100,000 to an undercover US law enforcement officer posing as the hitman. The assassination attempt was thwarted by US authorities.
“Over the course of May and June in the current year Gupta exchanged messages with an informant and unnamed to him – an undercover agent which sound like they came straight out of a detective movie, including one directing them to “finish him…finish the job,” the Manhattan federal indictment discloses.
Gupta also pledged they would get “more jobs” to assassinate others if they successfully committed the crime, the court documents show.
An Indian government employee — referred to in court documents as co-conspirator 1 — “directed” Gupta to commit the killing of an Indian-born US citizen “political activist and attorney” who is a vocal critic of the Indian government and also advocates for the secession of Punjab, India to establish a Sikh state called Khalistan, the filing adds.
Co-conspirator 1 told Gupta that he’d wipe his record of a criminal case in exchange for Gupta’s assistance in plotting the killing, court document show.
On May 12, Co-conspirator 1 told Gupta his criminal case “has already been taken care of” saying that “no one from Gujrat police department is calling .. no one will ever bother you again,” the indictment says.
Gupta then made contact someone he believed was a criminal to assist him find and select a hitman for the New York hit, but the criminal was in fact a confidential source for law enforcement department, the court documents maintain. The informant hooked Gupta up with a “hitman” but the supposed assassin was in fact an undercover agent, the indictment adds.
In the end, Gupta pledged to pay 100,000 US dollars in the murder-for-hire plan, agreeing to give a 15,000 US dollars advance payment until the hit was complete, the court documents say.
Co-conspirator 1 told Gupta that the whole money would be paid within 24 hours following the work is done. Gupta told Co-conspirator 1 on May 25, he told his men in the Big Apple to “discharge” the victim “as soon as possible,” the filing adds.
On June 9, Co-conspirator 1 told Gupta that the downpayment for the plan was coming “today” and told Gupta to “activate the people and get it done on this weekend,” the indictment maintains.
That same day, a go-between met the undercover agent and provided him 15,000 US dollars, the indictment says, including a picture of the hand-to-hand cash transaction occurring inside a vehicle.
Co-conspirator 1 gave Gupta info about the victim, including his house address, telephone numbers and information regarding the victim’s daily activities — which Gupta passed along to the agent and informant.
Gupta ordered the men not to murder the target during high-level diplomatic meetings between India and the US, including giving a message on June 6 telling the informant on a call: “We need to calm down everything ten days.”
Gupta guaranteed the informant that after the assassination was complete, he would have “more task” for the people “referring to more targeted killings … in the future,” the indictment adds.
The indictment further disclosed that Gupta, on June 19, a day after the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, instructed the purported hitman to proceed with the New York murder, asserting that both Sikhs were on the same list of targets.
Co-conspirator 1 sent Gupta an article regarding their intended target on June 20th and said it is a “priority now,” the indictment maintains.
US-India tension
Ten days later on June 30th, Gupta was apprehended in the Czech Republic at the request of US officials working via Interpol and will be extradited US.
This revelation has strained diplomatic relations between the United States and India. The Biden administration dispatched its top intelligence officials, CIA Director William J. Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, to New Delhi to demand an investigation by the Indian government and accountability for those involved.
The US and Canadian law enforcement agencies are collaborating on both cases, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously suggesting “credible allegations” of New Delhi’s involvement in the Canadian killing.
The Indian government has not officially responded to the charges, but earlier expressed its commitment to investigate security concerns raised by the US regarding the plot.
