The US Justice Department has said that an Indian government official directed the failed plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader, who is also a US citizen, on the American soil. The department has also charged an Indian national, identified as 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta, for orchestrating the attempted murder.
Nikhil Gupta, 52, faces murder-for-hire charges, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, US Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's National Security Division Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement.
According to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, Gupta worked with the Indian government employee, whose responsibilities included security and intelligence. Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June and is awaiting extradition.
Though the prosecutors did not name the Indian government official or the target, the latter is said to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.
"The defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a US citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs," Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement.
The Indian official is described in the related indictment as a "Senior Field Officer" with responsibilities in "Security Management" and "Intelligence" employed by the Indian government who "directed the plot from India."
Announcing the charges, the US prosecutors said the Indian official recruited Gupta in May 2023 to orchestrate the assassination. Gupta reportedly told the Indian official that he had been involved with drug and weapons trafficking.
At the government official's direction, Gupta got in touch with a criminal associate for help hiring a hitman. But that associate was actually a Drug Enforcement Administration undercover agent. The day after Nijjar was killed, Gupta wrote to the undercover DEA agent saying Nijjar "was also the target" and "we have so many targets," prosecutors said.
US authorities said Gupta agreed to pay an assassin USD 100,000 to kill the Sikh separatist leader living in New York City. "On or about June 9, 2023, CC-1 and GUPTA arranged for an associate to deliver USD 15,000 in cash to the UC in Manhattan, New York, as an advance payment for the murder," according to the charges.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement: "The law enforcement partners neutralised this deadly and outrageous threat. We will not tolerate efforts to assassinate US citizens on US soil, and stand ready to investigate, thwart, and prosecute anyone who seeks to harm and silence Americans here or abroad."
Though India's Washington embassy and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, foreign ministry said New Delhi would formally investigate the concerns aired by the United States.
India had constituted a high-level enquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill the Sikh extremist on American soil.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said on Wednesday that the the US side shared some "inputs" pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners and terrorists and that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on "our national security interests as well" and that relevant departments were examining the issue."
India constituted a high-level enquiry committee on November 18 to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter, he said.