Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty ImagesUS accuses Indian agent of plotting to kill American citizen
Indictment released The Justice Department also reported new evidence: An unnamed agent ordered the murder of activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
U.S. prosecutors have accused an Indian government agent of directing an assassination attempt on an American citizen on U.S. soil, according to a superseding indictment report released by the Justice Department revealing new details of India's alleged attacks on Sikh activists around the world.
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The indictment unsealed on Wednesday also provided new evidence that the Indian agent – not named named – ordered the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh activist who was shot and killed outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in September that there were “credible allegations” that Indian government agents carried out Nijjar's murder. The allegations were denied by India, which called the claim “absurd” and politically motivated.
The US indictment now appears to bolster evidence of a global conspiracy allegedly orchestrated in India. India must silence and kill vocal critics of the Indian government who support the creation of an independent Sikh state.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the target of the alleged murder plot, told the Guardian that the indictment reveals “a blatant case of transnational terrorism in India”, adding that the attempt on his life only intensified his efforts to hold a symbolic referendum on independent Sikh rule. homeland known as Khalistan.
“If death is the price of holding a referendum in Khalistan, I am ready to pay that price,” he said in a statement. “By first killing Nijjar in Canada and then trying to kill me on US soil, India under the leadership of [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] has extended its policy of violent suppression of the Sikh movement for the right to self-determination to foreign territories.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Trudeau said: “The news coming out of the United States once again underscores what we have been saying all along, which is that India needs to take this seriously.”
The Justice Department has not named the Indian government official it refers to as CC-1 in the indictment. and said to have previously served in the Indian Central Reserve Police Force.
They have charged another man, Nikhil Gupta, 52, with working closely with an Indian agent. .
Gupta, an Indian national, is described as a “close associate” of CC-1 and has allegedly spoken about his involvement in international drug and arms trafficking. He was arrested and detained on June 30 in the Czech Republic and extradited to the United States under a bilateral extradition treaty.
According to the indictment, an Indian government agent working with Gupta and others in India and other countries conspired to kill an American lawyer and political activist living in New York. Around May 2023, CC-1 is believed to have recruited Gupta to orchestrate the “murder” of the US victim, whom prosecutors described as “an outspoken critic of the Indian government and head of a US-based organization advocating for the secession of Punjab, the northern Indian state that is home to a large number of Sikhs.”
The Financial Times first reported last week that US authorities had foiled a plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil and had warned the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot.
According to the indictment, Gupta, allegedly acting on the instructions of an Indian agent, contacted a man he believed to be an associate of the criminal, asking for help in hiring a hitman to kill the target.
But in reality, this partner was a confidential source working in US law enforcement, and the alleged hitman they introduced Gupta to was an undercover US law enforcement officer.
Ultimately The alleged hitman was eventually offered – in a deal allegedly brokered by Gupta – $100,000 to kill a target in New York. As an advance, Gupta instructed another associate of the Indian agent (CC-1) to transfer $15,000 to the alleged killer.
As the plot progressed, the Indian agent allegedly demanded regular updates from Gupta on how the plan was progressing. Gupta, in turn, provided the Indian agent with CCTV photographs and other items. Gupta urged the alleged hitman to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but warned him against committing the murder around the time of expected meetings between “senior US and Indian government officials.”
The detail is likely a reference to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit last June, a high-profile meeting at which Joe Biden called the US-India partnership “stronger, closer and more dynamic than any other.” time in history.”
Nijjar, a Canadian activist, was killed by masked gunmen on June 18. Hours later, the indictment alleges, CC-1 sent Gupta a video clip showing Nijjar's bloody body lying in his car, followed by the address of the alleged US victim's home in New York.
A day later, Gupta told an undercover officer posing as a hitman that Nijjar “was a target too” and “we have so many targets.” He added that in light of Nijjar's murder, there was now “no need to wait” to kill a target in New York.
On June 20, an Indian agent (CC-1) sent Gupta a news article about goals and said that “now this is a priority.”
Gupta is charged with murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. -hire.
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The Guardian previously reported that after the murder in Canada, the FBI warned several US citizens who also are Sikh activists, that they may be targeted.
The Indian government has long complained about the presence of Sikh separatist groups outside India who advocate the creation of an independent Sikh state, known as Khalistan, to be carved out of India.
The Indian government has openly persecuted Khalistani militants and Khalistan supporters within its borders, and Sikh groups accuse the government of suppressing dissent outside Indian territory.
Pritpal Singh, Founder of the Sikh American Committee, who is one of the Americans warned by the FBI at the time, said in a statement that he was grateful for the work of the Justice Department, the FBI, the New York Police Department and the Czech Republic. law enforcement agencies.
“India showed a blatant disregard for the rule of law when its government orchestrated the murder of an American activist on US soil, coinciding with Modi's visit to the White House. These revelations are a deeply troubling development that has shocked our community. India's rogue regime must be held accountable and those responsible must be brought to justice,” Singh said.
Wednesday's news may also draw attention to past deaths in Britain June Another Sikh activist, Avtar Singh Khanda, a 35-year-old man, died this summer in a Birmingham hospital after a short illness.
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His family and lawyer have demanded a formal inquest into his death from the chief coroner of England and Wales, but the request was recently denied.< /p>
The Indian government did not immediately respond to the allegations contained in the indictment, but after the FT first reported the alleged plot, a ministry spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs said: “In recent discussions India-US Security Cooperation The US side shared some information regarding the links between organized crime, arms dealers, terrorists and others. These contributions are of concern to both countries and they have decided to take necessary follow-up action.
“For our part, India takes such contributions seriously as they impinge on our own national security interests . Issues related to the US contribution are already being studied by the relevant departments.”
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