— On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta told a DEA undercover officer that Nijjar “was also the target” and “we have so many targets”
— An Indian government employee, working together with others, including Nikhil Gupta, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate Pannun on U.S. soil
Attachment:
INDIAN national Nikhil Gupta (aka “Nick”), 52, has been charged with murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City.
Although the indictment doesn’t mention the name of the U.S. citizen, a senior Biden administration source was quoted by a U.S. newspaper as saying the target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice.
The charges are contained in a superseding indictment unsealed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit, Violent and Organized Crime Unit, and Narcotics Unit.
The charge of murder-for-hire carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and the charge of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, 2023, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, the defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs, an ethnoreligious minority group in India. I am grateful that my office and our law enforcement partners neutralized this deadly and outrageous threat. We will not tolerate efforts to assassinate U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, and stand ready to investigate, thwart, and prosecute anyone who seeks to harm and silence Americans here or abroad.”
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said: “The dedicated law enforcement agents and prosecutors in this case foiled and exposed a dangerous plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil. The Department of Justice will be relentless in using the full reach of our authorities to pursue accountability for lethal plotting emanating from overseas.”
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram said: “When a foreign government employee allegedly committed the brazen act of recruiting an international narcotics trafficker to murder a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, DEA was there to stop the plot. I want to recognize the outstanding work of the DEA New York Field Division for their leadership in this investigation, the prosecution team at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan for pursuing today’s indictment, and our federal and global law enforcement partners for their assistance.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said: “Murder for hire is a crime out of a movie, but the plot in this case was all too real. The excellent teamwork of the law enforcement partners in this case exposed this brazen conspiracy and is why Nikhil Gupta finds himself in jail waiting to answer to these charges.”
AS alleged in the superseding indictment and other public court documents, earlier this year:
An Indian government employee (“CC-1”), working together with others, including Gupta, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on U.S. soil an attorney and political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City (the “Victim”).
Gupta is an Indian national who resides in India, is an associate of the Indian government employee, and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1 and others.
CC-1 is an Indian government agency employee who has variously described himself as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence,” and who also has referenced previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force and receiving “officer training” in “battle craft” and “weapons.” CC-1 directed the assassination plot from India
In or about May 2023, CC-1 recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the Victim in the United States. The Victim is a vocal critic of the Indian government and leads a U.S.-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India that is home to a large population of Sikhs, an ethnoreligious minority group in India. The Victim has publicly called for some or all of Punjab to secede from India and establish a Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan, and the Indian government has banned the Victim and his separatist organization from India.
At CC-1’s direction, Gupta contacted an individual whom Gupta believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source working with the DEA (the “CS”), for assistance in contracting a hitman to murder the Victim in New York City. The CS introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was in fact a DEA undercover officer (the “UC”). CC-1 subsequently agreed in dealings brokered by Gupta to pay the UC $100,000 to murder the Victim. On or about June 9, 2023, CC-1 and Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the UC as an advance payment for the murder. CC-1’s associate then delivered the $15,000 to the UC in Manhattan.
In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, CC-1 provided Gupta with personal information about the Victim, including the Victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the Victim, and details about the Victim’s day-to-day conduct, which Gupta then passed to the UC.
CC-1 directed Gupta to provide regular updates on the progress of the assassination plot, which Gupta accomplished by forwarding to CC-1, among other things, surveillance photographs of the Victim. Gupta directed the UC to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but Gupta also specifically instructed the UC not to commit the murder around the time of anticipated engagements scheduled to occur in the ensuing weeks between high-level U.S. and Indian government officials.
On or about June 18, 2023, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Nijjar was an associate of the Victim, and like the Victim, was a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and an outspoken critic of the Indian government. On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta told the UC that Nijjar “was also the target” and “we have so many targets.” Gupta added that, in light of Nijjar’s murder, there was “now no need to wait” on killing the Victim. On or about June 20, 2023, CC-1 sent Gupta a news article about the Victim and messaged Gupta, “[i]t’s [a] priority now.”
The indictment also states: “Gupta also told the CS to expect the Victim to be more careful in the wake of the Nijjar murder: “He will be more cautious, because in Canada, his colleague is down. His colleague is down. I sent you the video. So he will be more cautious, so we should not give them the chance, any chance.” Gupta added: If he is not alone, [if] there are two guys with him in the meeting or something … put everyone down, put everyone down.”
MEANWHILE, India has constituted a high-level inquiry committee to look into the security concerns raised by the US government, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Wednesday.
“During the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others. 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,” Bagchi said in a statement.
“In this context, it is informed that on 18 November 2023, the Government of India constituted a high-level Enquiry Committee to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter. Government of India will take necessary follow-up action based on the finding of the Enquiry Committee,” the statement read.
PRIME Minister Justin Trudeau said the news coming out of the United States further underscores what Canada has been talking about from the very beginning, “which is that India needs to take this seriously.”
He added: “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. Our responsibility is to keep Canadians safe, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do,” Trudeau emphasised.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that the US indictment confirms that Canada is not alone at managing these particular threats. He added: “What’s important for us is the government of Canada and agencies like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the intelligence service do everything that they can to protect Canadians, but also to hold accountable those who murdered a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told the media that Canada stands by its credible allegations that there was a killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil, linking to Indian agents.
She added: “We call on India to engage in our own investigation, and I think it is important that they do so.”
She said: “I can tell you the impact of our investigation, and also what is going on in the US, is I have engaged with my Indian counterpart on this very issue. We call on their cooperation to make sure that our investigation is able to proceed.”
Joly said India’s removal of diplomatic immunity to 41 Canadian diplomats was completely unacceptable, adding: “And it is clearly my goal to make sure that the 41 diplomats that should be right now working in India are allowed back.”
PANNUN said in a statement: “It is reassuring that the US government is steadfast in its fundamental constitutional duty to protect the life and liberty and freedom of expression of the US citizen at home and abroad. This is the bedrock of American democracy.
“I will let the US officials respond to the questions related to the specifics of India’s “hired to assassinate” plot to kill me, timeline of investigations, indictments and most importantly Indian government’s involvement in the plot to silence my voice for organizing, the Khalistan Referendum.”
He said that an Indian Hindu “Nikhil Gupta” has been indicted for the assassination attempt, but in fact, this is an indictment against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pannun added: “The attempt on my life on American soil is the blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism, which has become a challenge to America’s sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy, which unequivocally proves that India believes in using bullets while pro-Khalistan Sikhs believe in ballots.”
He declared: “If death is the cost for running the Khalistan Referendum, I’m willing to pay that price. The assassination attempt in my life by India, cannot deter me from organizing the voting for the independence referendum and I’m moving forward to organizing the American Phase of Khalistan Referendum on January 28, 2024 in San Francisco.”
He alleged: “First by assassinating Nijjar in Canada, and then attempting to assassinate me on US soil, India under Modi has extended to the foreign soils its policy of violently crushing the Sikhs movement for right to self-determination. It’s the same policy under which India judicially killed pro-Khalistan Sikhs in Punjab with impunity during the 1990s.”
MEANWHILE, World Sikh Organization of Canada’s President Danish Singh said: “The unsealed US indictment’s revelation that at least three more Sikhs in Canada were to be assassinated before June 29 is startling. India has denied allegations that it was involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar but the revelations in the unsealed indictment clearly show that agents of the Government of India were directing these operations in Canada and the US.
“The Government of India is using criminal elements to target Sikhs in Canada and the US and providing them with directions, logistics and money. The Government of India’s nexus with criminal gangs is an alarming revelation from today’s indictment. India is not only engaging in destabilizing foreign interference and attacking the sovereignty of democratic countries, it is also financing and supporting gangs in Canada and the US to kill citizens of other nations.
“The fact that an agent of the Government of India had video footage of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s bloodied body slumped in his vehicle the same day as his assassination and transmitted this clip is also damning.
“While Nikhil Gupta has been arrested, the full extent of the network that worked with him, including those in India, remains to be revealed. It is clear that this network has ties to the Nijjar case. We call on Canadian authorities and law enforcement to bring those responsible for Nijjar’s assassination to justice as soon as possible and to clearly identify those involved in the plot in India and elsewhere.
“We have known about Indian intelligence networks targeting Sikhs in Canada for decades. It’s time for Canadian authorities to expose those involved in these networks and to hold them accountable. Enough is enough.”
