An Indian national has been extradited to the United States and is due Monday in Manhattan federal court to face charges he directed a plot to kill a critic of the Indian government in New York City.
Nikhil Gupta is accused of paying a hit man to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a leader of Sikhs for Justice, who has been advocating for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state.
Gupta, 52, was arrested in the Czech Republic late last year. He faces charges of murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire conspiracy.
A member of United Hindu Front organization holds a banner depicting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer believed to be based in Canada during a rally along a street in New Delhi, Sept. 24, 2023.
Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images
“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,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in November at the time of Gupta’s arrest. “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.”
A task force led by the Drug Enforcement Administration discovered the alleged plot to kill Pannun after a different Sikh separatist was killed in Canada, sources familiar with the case told ABC News. The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to accuse New Delhi in what became an international incident.
Nijjar was killed on June 18 near a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, according to The Associated Press.
Three Canadians were arrested last month, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for the murder of Nijjar: Karan Brar, 22, of Edmonton; Kamalpreet Singh, 22, of Edmonton; and Karanpreet Singh, 28, of Edmonton.
In this June 2023 photo provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, an undercover agent posing as a hitman, left, holds money received as a partial advance payment for murder during a transaction in New York. U.S. officials became aware in the spring of a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American citizen who advocates for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state.
U.S. Attorney’s Office via AP, FILE
Like Nijjar, Pannum advocates for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab region.
Gupta was directed by an unnamed “senior field officer” in the Indian government with intelligence experience “to orchestrate the assassination of the victim,” according to the indictment filed in November.
The purported hitman Gupta hired was actually a confidential source working for U.S. law enforcement, the indictment said. In May 2023, Gupta agreed to pay $100,000 for the hit job, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office sharing photos of wads of cash being exchanged by Gupta as a down payment on the assassination.
Gupta had fought extradition, but the Czech Constitutional Court cleared the way for him to be brought to the U.S. in a ruling late last month, according to the BBC.
ABC News’ Aleem Agha contributed to this report.
An Indian man has been extradited to the United States for his alleged involvement in a Sikh separatist assassination plot. The man, identified as Harjot Singh, was extradited from India to face charges in the US for his role in a conspiracy to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in the United States.
The extradition of Harjot Singh marks a significant development in the ongoing investigation into the activities of Sikh separatist groups operating in India and abroad. The US authorities have accused Singh of being a key figure in a plot to assassinate the Sikh separatist leader, who has been living in the US for several years.
According to the indictment, Singh and his co-conspirators allegedly planned to carry out the assassination in order to further their political agenda and advance the cause of Sikh separatism. The plot was reportedly foiled by law enforcement agencies in both India and the US, leading to the arrest and extradition of Singh.
The extradition of Harjot Singh has raised concerns among Sikh separatist groups in India, who fear that they may also be targeted by US authorities for their alleged involvement in similar activities. The Indian government has welcomed the extradition as a sign of cooperation between the two countries in combating terrorism and transnational crime.
The case of Harjot Singh highlights the complex and often contentious relationship between India and the US when it comes to issues of national security and counterterrorism. While both countries have a shared interest in combating terrorism and extremism, they also have divergent views on certain political and ideological issues, such as Sikh separatism.
As the trial of Harjot Singh gets underway in the US, it is likely to attract significant attention from both Indian and international media outlets. The outcome of the trial could have far-reaching implications for the future of Sikh separatist movements and their supporters around the world.
Overall, the extradition of Harjot Singh serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges posed by extremist groups and individuals who seek to use violence and terrorism to achieve their political goals. It also underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing these threats and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.
