US federal prosecutors have accused an Indian government official of orchestrating a plot to kill a Sikh activist in New York City, complicating the Biden administration’s efforts to boost ties with India to help counter China.
The allegations were contained in an indictment unsealed on Wednesday in which the US justice department charged another Indian citizen with working with the official to carry out a “murder-for-hire” plot. The Indian official was not named or charged in the indictment.
Although federal prosecutors did not name the target of the alleged plot, the Financial Times has confirmed it was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen who is general counsel for Sikhs for Justice, a US-based group that is part of a separatist movement pushing for the creation of an independent Sikh state in India called “Khalistan”.
The alleged plot is one of two cases that have hurt efforts by Washington and its allies to deepen relations with New Delhi in an effort to counter China. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, in September said there were “credible allegations” that India’s government was linked to the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader, in a Vancouver suburb.
Speaking after the US indictment was unsealed on Wednesday, Trudeau said it underscored that India needed to take the allegations seriously.
“The Indian government needs to work with us to ensure that we’re getting to the bottom of this. This is not something that anyone can take lightly,” Trudeau said.
The US indictment, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges the Indian government official — referred to as CC-1 — described himself as a “senior field officer” whose responsibilities include “intelligence”. It said the official directed the foiled plot from India.
The official allegedly “recruited” the Indian citizen charged in the indictment, identified as Nikhil Gupta, in May by promising to arrange for criminal charges in India against him to be dropped.
Gupta allegedly contacted a criminal associate who he did not realise was a “confidential source” for US law enforcement. The source introduced Gupta to a purported hitman who was an undercover law enforcement officer.
The indictment suggests a connection between the plot to kill Pannun and the murder of Nijjar.
In June, Gupta allegedly told the confidential source there was a “big target” in Canada several days before Nijjar was killed. That evening, the Indian official sent a video that showed a bloody Nijjar slumped over in his car. One hour later, he sent the New York address of Pannun.
Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30 following a request from US authorities after he arrived in the country from India.
Pannun told the FT he believed the Indian government was trying to kill him because he was organising a referendum on whether Punjab, the majority Sikh province in India, should be an independent country.
“The attempt on my life on American soil is a blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism, which has become a challenge to America’s sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy,” Pannun said on Wednesday.
“This is an indictment against [Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi, a known human rights violator who has a track record of using violence to suppress criticism and dissenting political opinion,” Pannun added.
Before the indictment was filed, India’s ministry of external affairs on Wednesday said New Delhi had established “a high-level inquiry committee to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter” on November 18. It added that it would “take necessary follow-up action” depending on the committee’s findings.
India’s government said it would not have any further comment after the allegations were made public.
The Pannun case was viewed as so serious that the two most senior US intelligence officials flew to India in recent months to raise concerns about the alleged plot with officials, said people familiar with their travel.
Bill Burns, the CIA director, flew to India in August and Avril Haines, US director of national intelligence, travelled there in October.
A senior US official said national security adviser Jake Sullivan had also raised concerns with his counterpart after being briefed on the allegations. “He made it clear that this kind of plotting could permanently damage the trust established between our two countries,” the official said.
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, and Sullivan had also raised it with S Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, in Washington, the US official added.
The FT first reported the failed plot to assassinate Pannun last week. US President Joe Biden also raised the case with Modi at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September.
In an initial indictment, filed in a New York court in June, prosecutors alleged Gupta and others had conspired to pay an assassin to kill Pannun. It was filed one week before Modi made a state visit to Washington, where he was feted by Biden and gave a speech to Congress.
People familiar with the case have insisted the White House was unaware of a possible connection with the Indian government when they welcomed Modi in Washington, or when the first indictment was filed.
The Biden administration has invested heavily in expanding relations with India as a critical component of a strategy to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region. US and officials from allied countries have said the alleged connection with New Delhi has complicated that strategy.
The indictment alleges the Indian official agreed to pay $100,000 for the planned assassination and arranged for an upfront payment of $15,000.
It says that in June Gupta told the person he believed to be a hitman to carry out the murder as soon as possible, saying in a phone call: “Finish him brother, finish him, don’t take too much time.”
But Gupta allegedly later told him to avoid the period later in June when meetings were scheduled between high-level US and Indian officials. That message came as the White House was preparing to welcome Modi for that month’s state visit.
On June 19, the day after Nijjar was killed in Canada and several days before Modi arrived in the US, the indictment says Gupta told the hitman there was “now no need to wait”. He added, “we have many targets”, including Pannun.
In other exchanges between the Indian official and Gupta that the US intercepted, the official said there was another target in California. “We will hit all our targets,” Gupta allegedly responded.
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