Nikhil Gupta, an Indian citizen has been charged in connection by US federal prosecutors in a purported assassination plot of Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York City.

Washington/New York: US federal prosecutors Wednesday charged an Indian national for his role in a now-foiled plot to assassinate New York-based Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

52-year-old Nikhil Gupta has been has been charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire  by the authorities. If convicted, both charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and according to US law will be stacked together, which could mean a possible 20-year prison term upon conviction, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Matthew G. Olsen said.

$100k hit-job

According to authorities, Gupta agreed to pay $100,000 to an assassin and 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,” the charges read.

The indictment has not named the US citizen but The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, last week reported that US authorities thwarted a plot to assassinate banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot.

Assassination attempts on US citizens won’t be tolerated

“As alleged, 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, an ethnoreligious minority group in India,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement.

Williams said that his Office and 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.”

The Superseding Indictment unsealed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said and other public court documents details the alleged plot in which Gupta was involved.

Gupta extradited from Czechoslovakia

In about May 2023, Gupta was recruited by an individual to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States.

Prosecutors said that Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, 2023, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.

Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic at the request of the United States in connection with his participation in the plot to murder the individual. It was not immediately clear when Gupta might be extradited to the US.

India forms high-level committee to probe allegations

The development came on a day when India said that it has constituted a high-level enquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill the Sikh extremist on American soil.

On Wednesday, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said 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.

Nijjar killing

India’s bilateral ties with close US ally Canada are already in freefall since September after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of orchestrating the killing of another Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June this year.

In September, barely days after the G20 summit in India, Trudeau claimed of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

Earlier this month, Trudeau accused New Delhi of “violating” the Vienna Convention by “forcing” over 40 Canadian diplomats to leave the country after threatening to revoke their diplomatic immunity. The Canadian PM stressed that a “fight” with India is something Canada does not want right now and Ottawa wants to “work constructively” with New Delhi on this “very serious matter” (referring to the killing of Nijjar).

(With PTI inputs)