US Department of Justice Charges Indian Citizen Nikhil Gupta in Murder-for-Hire Plot Targeting US Citizen of Indian Origin in Khalistan Movement

The US Department of Justice has announced the filing of “murder-for-hire” charges against Nikhil Gupta, a 52-year-old Indian citizen. Gupta is accused of being recruited by an unnamed Indian government official to orchestrate the assassination of a US citizen of Indian origin who is active in the Khalistan (Sikh separatist) movement. Gupta, who is described as being involved in drug and arms trafficking, was arrested in Prague on June 30 and extradited to the US.

The indictment of Gupta comes after the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Indo-Canadian proponent of Khalistan, in Vancouver last June. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused state operatives of India of being responsible for Nijjar’s murder, leading to a diplomatic spat between India and Canada.

The US indictment suggests that the Indian government official had targeted a series of North American-based leaders of the Khalistan movement for assassination. The Biden administration is downplaying the indictment, stating that it will not impact Indo-US relations and accepting whatever explanation the Modi government provides. India is a strategic partner of the US, and the two countries have been working together to counter China’s influence.

The unsealed indictment states that an Indian government employee directed a plot to assassinate a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City. The Indian official promised to make various criminal cases against Gupta go away if he carried out the assassination. Gupta then approached a go-between to find a contract killer, but the go-between turned out to be an informant of a US law enforcement agency, and the “hitman” was an undercover agent of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The target of the assassination plot is believed to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of Sikhs for Justice, a New York-based Sikh separatist group. The Khalistan movement calls for the secession of Punjab from India to form a Sikh state. The movement has little support among the Sikh masses in India but continues to be promoted overseas, especially in the US and Canada.

The US indictment raises concerns about the Modi government’s actions in repressing and eliminating political opponents designated as “terrorists.” The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York stated that they will not tolerate efforts to assassinate US citizens on US soil. However, critics argue that the US is asserting its monopoly of state violence and acting as a law unto itself.