Justice Department charges former Indian intelligence official in assassination plot : NPR

The Department of Justice is pictured on March 22, 2019 in Washington, D.C. The DOJ has charged a former Indian intelligence official for allegedly orchestrating a foiled plot to assassinate an American citizen who is a leader in the push for an independent Sikh homeland.

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A former Indian intelligence official is facing federal charges in the U.S. for allegedly orchestrating a foiled plot to assassinate an American citizen in New York City who is a leader in the movement pushing for an independent Sikh homeland.

The indictment against Vikash Yadav, unsealed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, points to a direct link between the Indian government and what prosecutors say was a murder-for-hire scheme on American soil.

The Justice Department first announced charges in the case last year, indicting an Indian national and alleged drug and weapons trafficker, Nikhil Gupta. That indictment also referred to an unnamed Indian government official whom prosecutors said directed the scheme.

The new indictment unsealed Thursday identifies that official as Yadav and makes him a co-defendant in the case. Yadav and Gupta each face charges of murder-for-hire conspiracy, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Gupta was arrested last year in the Czech Republic and extradited to the U.S. He has pleaded not guilty. Yadav, meanwhile, remains at large, according to the Justice Department.

“The Justice Department will be relentless in holding accountable any person — regardless of their position or proximity to power — who seeks to harm and silence American citizens,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

The alleged target

The target of the alleged plot was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, lawyer and political activist. He is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice and an advocate for the creation of a Sikh state carved out from northern India.

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is pictured in his office on Nov. 29, 2023, in New York. Federal prosecutors say a former Indian intelligence official directed a plot to assassinate Pannun in New York City after he advocated for a sovereign state for Sikhs.

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Ted Shaffrey/AP

Pannun welcomed the indictment against Yadav, saying the “U.S. government has reassured its commitment to fundamental constitutional duty to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of the U.S. citizen at home and abroad.”

“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,” Pannun said in a statement.

Another Sikh separatist leader was gunned down in Canada

At the same time that the plot against Pannun was allegedly in motion, another Sikh separatist leader and close associate of Pannun, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was gunned down in Canada.

Canadian authorities have arrested four Indian nationals in connection with Nijjar’s murder. This week, Canada said that India’s top diplomat in the country and five other Indian diplomats were persons of interest in the investigation. Canada expelled all six of the Indian diplomats.

Canadian authorities also said they had found evidence that Indian diplomats have been involved in a campaign against Canadian citizens.

“We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

India has rejected the accusations.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly (right) and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc speaks during a press conference on October 14 in Ottawa, after Canada expelled six top Indian diplomats.

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Nijjar’s assassination and the alleged plot against Pannun has raised questions about India’s actions abroad, and complicated the U.S. relationship with India. The Biden administration views India as an important counterbalance to China.

After the U.S. announced last year that it had foiled the attempt on Pannun’s life, India launched its own internal inquiry to look into the matter — an effort viewed with skepticism in Washington.

This week, Indian officials involved in that inquiry were in the U.S. for meetings with their American counterparts to discuss the respective investigations. A spokesman for the State Department called the talks “productive.”