Amid the diplomatic tensions between India and Canada over the killing of Canada-based Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, United States federal prosecutors have accused an Indian intelligence official of planning and directing a plot, from India, to allegedly kill Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
Nikhil Gupta, an Indian man, has been reportedly arrested for planning to assassinate Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US. The plot involved an unnamed Indian government employee and an undercover US agent, according to media reports.
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
The explosive allegations, contained in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment that was publicly released on Wednesday, accuse a senior Indian intelligence official, as yet unnamed but referred to as CC-1, of masterminding the assassination plot.
The indictment alleges that the official enlisted an individual named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hit man with an advance payment, and also suggests that the Gujarat Police dropped criminal charges against Gupta at the behest of the Indian intelligence official in order to facilitate the contract killing.
According to the unsealed indictment, Gupta offered an individual whom he believed was a criminal associate, but was in fact a U.S. confidential source working for the Drug Enforcement Administration, $100,000 to murder the Khalistan separatist. Gupta is alleged to have instructed the supposed assassin not to commit the murder around the time of high-level political engagements between the U.S. and India. The defendant was arrested at the end of June in the Czech Republic at the United Statess request.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs of India stated that the case is a "matter of concern.
As regards the case against an individual has been filed in the US court, allegedly linking him to an Indian official, this is a matter of concernthis is also contrary to government policy. The nexus between organized crime, trafficking, gunrunning and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for law enforcement, agencies and organisations to consider. It is precisely for that reason that a high level inquiry committee has been constituted. We will obviously be guided by its results, Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the MEA said.
The allegation has not only raised eyebrows but also escalated diplomatic tensions.
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