United States: The United States authorities have alleged that an Indian government official orchestrated a failed plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American land.
The federal prosecutors noted that Mr. Nikhil Gupta, a 52-year-old Indian man, had worked with an Indian government intelligence and security worker in a secret plot to kill a Sikh activist in New York.
Prosecutors did not name the Indian official or the target but referred to the target as a critic of the Indian government and an advocate for an independent Sikh state in the Punjab region. Mr. Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June and is awaiting his 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,” Mr. Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, shared.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Gupta allegedly planned to pay an assassin $100,000 to carry out the killing.
The charges come a week after a senior member of the administration of President, Mr. Joe Biden, said that the US had blocked a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the US and two months after Canadian authorities accused the Indian government of involvement in the assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada.
New Delhi has rejected allegations that it was behind the June murder of Canadian Sikh separatist Mr. Hardeep Singh Nijjar. But Canadian authorities have remained firmly behind the claim and recalled dozens of diplomats from India in response.
Justice Department Announces Charges in Connection with Foiled Plot to Assassinate U.S. Citizen in New York City
Indian Government Employee Directed a Plot from India to Murder U.S.-Based Leader of Sikh Separatist Movementhttps://t.co/v1IDJXy46P pic.twitter.com/dxDmarrjH4
— National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice (@DOJNatSec) November 29, 2023
“The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously,” Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday.
According to US prosecutors, the official recruited Mr. Gupta in May 2023 to execute the assassination. “The day after Mr. Nijjar was killed, Mr. Gupta wrote to the undercover DEA agent, saying Mr. Nijjar was also the target, and we have so many targets,” the prosecutors further remarked.
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