US charges Indian national with conspiracy to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun | India News

NEW DELHI: The US has charged an Indian national with conspiring to assassinate a US citizen who advocated for a sovereign state for Sikhs, the US attorney’s office in Manhattan said on Wednesday.
Nikhil Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June and is awaiting extradition.
“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.
“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,” added Williams.
Prosecutors, however, did not name the target of Gupta’s alleged plot, who they described as a vocal critic of the Indian government who leads a US-based organisation that advocates for the secession of India’s Punjab state, which is home to a large population of Sikhs.
India sets up probe panel
The development follows on the heels of India announcing that it will constitute a high-level enquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill a Sikh extremist on American soil, presumably in view of the US raising concerns over the case.
The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, last week reported that US authorities foiled a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Wednesday said India constituted a high-level enquiry committee on November 18 to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter.
Following the FT report, US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the issue is being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that the Biden administration was so concerned after discovering the plot to assassinate the Sikh separatist that it sent CIA Director William J Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to India in August and October respectively to demand investigation and hold to account those responsible.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors “expect to file a new indictment against an Indian national charged in June with paying a hitman to kill the Sikh separatist”, the Post said, quoting unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Sikhs for Justice
Pannun, a Sikh extremist and known to be an American and Canadian citizen, is a leader of the so called ‘Sikhs for Justice’. He is wanted by Indian probe agencies on various terror charges.
“We have already said that during the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others,” Bagchi said.

He was responding to a media query on the issue.
“We had also indicated that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on our national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already examining the issue,” he said, referring to his comments on the matter last week.
Washington’s allegations relating to the failed plot came weeks after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged that there was a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb in June.
India had strongly rejected Trudeau’s charges.
(With inputs from agencies)

Watch US claims to have thwarted assassination plot of Khalistani terrorist Pannun