Indian Government Employee Charged in Plot to Assassinate SFJ Founder Sikh Activist in New York

Oneindia

In a shocking revelation, an Indian government employee, Nikhil Gupta, has been charged in a thwarted conspiracy to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice organization, in New York City. Gupta, allegedly directed by a 'Senior Field Officer' from India, faces charges of murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. The intricate plot involved hiring a hitman, with Gupta providing personal information about Pannu. The gravity of the situation has prompted the US Attorney to emphasize the commitment to investigate and prosecute those seeking to harm US citizens.    #india #assassinationplot #sikhactivist #conspiracy #usattorney #hindutva #terrorism #governmentemployee                  ~HT.178~ED.155~GR.122~

Transcript

00:00 Well in news just in, what comes as a shocking revelation coming from United States, an individual

00:05 identified as an Indian government employee has been implicated in a thwarted conspiracy

00:11 to assassinate Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, the founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice organization

00:17 in New York City.

00:18 Now this opens up a Pandora's box.

00:21 So what does it mean, United States charging a quote unquote Indian government employee

00:29 to attempt to kill Gurpatwan Singh Pannu.

00:32 This man needs no introduction.

00:33 He is the founder of the banned organization Sikhs for Justice.

00:39 Now remember if we go back, Hadeep Singh Nijjar also the same sort of profile, the same nature

00:48 of work that he did albeit from the soil of Canada.

00:51 We saw in the last six months how the relations between India and Canada have soured.

00:57 It also opened up the very notion that to whether Canada will get support of United

01:03 States or not.

01:04 Very recently after this Nijjar episode, one piece of information came in just a couple

01:10 of weeks ago that there was a plan in place to eliminate Gurpatwan Singh Pannu also.

01:17 Now this could be completely unfounded also.

01:19 There are no clear mention in the United States records also, police records also that something

01:25 of this sort happened.

01:26 And now suddenly we hear from the White House that a man has been charged with an attempted

01:36 plan to kill Gurpatwan Singh Pannu.

01:38 What does it mean?

01:40 Is United States going the Canada way?

01:43 Are we going to see the same repercussions between these two countries?

01:46 Canada was totally different albeit in the vicinity of United States, but it's altogether

01:51 a different ballgame.

01:52 Remember the camaraderie that both the leaders have shown when Prime Minister Modi visited

01:58 United States not long ago, it was an all Gaga affair.

02:02 Cut to September of 2023, we have the G20 summit that happened where the state heads

02:11 including the US President Joe Biden came to India.

02:16 That spoke volumes about the two countries.

02:19 Now the information that has been just received that Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, the founder of

02:24 the SFJ, Sixth For Justice Organization, which is banned by India, there was an attempt on

02:30 his life and the United States has implicated and identified and charged an Indian government

02:37 employee quote unquote.

02:40 To give you the history, the United States attorney has unsealed charges against 52 year

02:45 old Indian national called Nikhil Gupta in the United States District Court of the Southern

02:50 District of New York, including murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire,

02:56 each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

02:59 Now New York is very important here.

03:02 Only a few days ago when the country and the world was celebrating Guru Pura, that day

03:08 when US Indian envoy to United States went to one of the Gurudwaras in New York, he was

03:18 heckled there, Mr. Sandhu, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

03:21 He was heckled by pro-Khalistani members in the United States.

03:27 They charged him, they called, they started speaking about how they alleged that India

03:34 is involved in the killing of Nijar, Hardeep Singh Nijar, one of the declared terrorists

03:42 as far as the Khalistani movement is concerned.

03:46 And then in the same breath, those pro-Khalistani members also heckled Mr. Sandhu, saying that

03:54 India is planning and he is planning the killing of Guru Patwan Singh Pannu.

03:59 Now this was a planned effort on the very auspicious day of Guru Pura while the nation

04:08 and the world was celebrating his teachings.

04:12 Now suddenly this group of people tried to stop the US ambassador and heckle him and

04:21 call him names and gave him a statement that India has been trying to kill Pannu.

04:27 And now just two days later, we see this action from the United States.

04:31 So the court documents outline the intricate details of the conspiracy, indicating the

04:36 involvement of an Indian government employee working in collaboration with Gupta and others

04:40 in India.

04:41 Nikhil Gupta is the person who is in question here.

04:43 The government employee described as a senior field officer with a background in security

04:48 management and intelligence allegedly directed the assassination plot from India.

04:53 The indictment terms Pannu as the victim who is a US citizen.

04:57 Remember, Guru Patwan Singh Pannu, like Hardeep Singh Nijar is a US citizen.

05:02 He has the citizenship of India as well.

05:05 And I presume he is a US citizen for sure.

05:08 Whether he has got a Canadian citizenship that we need to check.

05:11 But yes, Hardeep Singh Nijar was a Canadian citizen.

05:16 Canada went all guns blazing against India.

05:19 At the end, nothing was proven.

05:21 India gave a tit for tat response and Canada had to backtrack.

05:25 Canada had to climb down from its moral perch that it was sitting at.

05:29 Now the same thing is happening with India this time around.

05:32 Pannu, there has been no attempt on his life so far.

05:35 His hale and hearty is safe.

05:38 But a US move is certainly something which comes as a shock.

05:44 The indictment also highlights that Gupta residing in India and associated with an Indian

05:48 government employee was recruited to coordinate the assassination plot.

05:52 According to the court documents, the Indian government employee directed Gupta to contact

05:56 a presumed criminal associate for helping in hiring a hitman to murder the victim, which

06:02 is Pannu here in New York City.

06:05 Now this is not very clear.

06:08 The so-called criminal associate was in fact a confidential source working with the Drug

06:13 Enforcement Administration, which is DEA.

06:16 The source introduced Gupta to an undercover DEA officer posing as a hitman.

06:20 The Indian government employee allegedly agreed to pay the undercover officer $1,00,000 for

06:29 the murder with an initial $15,000 delivered as an advance payment by the associate of

06:34 the government employee in Manhattan on June 9, 2023.

06:38 Now these are the details that we are receiving from the reports that have been mentioned

06:44 in the indictment in the court, in the New York court against this Indian official and

06:51 the go-between and the person, so-called person Nikhil Gupta.

06:57 Nikhil Gupta at the direction of the Indian government employee provided personal information

07:00 about Pannu including his home address, phone numbers and daily routines.

07:04 This is also again mentioned in the report in the court documents.

07:09 As the conspiracy unfolded, Gupta reportedly forwarded surveillance photographs of the

07:13 victim to the Indian government employee, keeping them updated on the progress.

07:17 The document said, the court document adding that Gupta instructed the undercover agent

07:21 to expedite the murder but also advised against committing the act during anticipated engagements

07:26 between high-level US and Indian government officials.

07:29 On June 8, 2023 and I am giving you the details of the documents, of the details that are

07:34 there in the court documents.

07:37 On June 18, 2023, masked gunman murdered Hardeep Singh Nijer, an associate of the victim outside

07:45 a Sikh temple in British Columbia in Canada.

07:48 Nijer, a leader of the Sikh separatist movement, which is again a terrorist movement, I would

07:53 say, separate Khalistan issue.

07:56 Nijer was a vocal critic of the Indian government and Gupta allegedly informed the undercover

08:00 officer the next day that Nijer was also the target and mentioned we have so many targets.

08:06 Following Nijer's murder, Gupta reportedly urged the undercover officer not to wait any

08:10 longer and to proceed with the assassination of Pannu.

08:14 The gravity of the situation prompted Damien Williams, the United States Attorney for the

08:19 Southern District of New York to state, and I quote here, "As alleged, the defendant conspired

08:24 from India to assassinate right here in the New York City, a US citizen of Indian origin

08:29 who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state of Sikhs and minority

08:35 group in India."

08:37 Williams expressed gratitude for the efforts of law enforcement partners in neutralizing

08:41 the threat and emphasized the commitment to investigate and prosecute those seeking to

08:46 harm this particular US citizen.

08:48 In case here it is Gurpakwan Singh Pannu.

08:51 Now Assistant Attorney General Matthew McOlson emphasized the Department of Justice determination

08:55 to hold accountable those plotting illegal actions from overseas, commending the dedicated

09:00 law enforcement agents and prosecutors involved in exposing that dangerous conspiracy.

09:05 So this is, these are basically the charges that have been made in the court document.

09:10 Now why it is important that Pannu finds the refuge because in the United States, it has

09:17 been noted time and again that elements like these have been given a safe haven in countries

09:24 like Canada, United States, UK for that matter, we have seen so much happening down there

09:30 up to Australia as well where the pro-Khalistani supporters and elements go on a rampage and

09:37 the police at times just stands by and watches them.

09:40 Well the response that came from Ottawa, from Prime Minister Trudeau's office is that they

09:47 are exercising their right freedom of expression.

09:51 Well when it comes to the safety and security and a national security threat to a particular

09:57 country like India, suddenly the Western partners, you know, turn a blind eye.

10:03 But for them, if they have to cross continents and fire a missile and go and hunt an Osama

10:09 Bin Laden or kill someone in Iraq or Afghanistan or Iran, they don't hesitate.

10:14 So this kind of a double speak, India has been calling out for a long time now.

10:21 And whether or not this involvement is there, it is not proven at all as of now, could be

10:25 a figment of imagination, could be a particular lobby that is working against India and trying

10:31 to connect the dots to how Niger got killed in a gang war and how Gurpathwan Singh Pannu

10:37 faces a lot of threats.

10:39 I mean he was one of the guys who was issuing openly, he was issuing threats that he would

10:42 blow up Indian Airlines flights or during the World Cup finals which has recently concluded

10:49 in India.

10:51 So no US action was taken.

10:53 If a US national is threatening to blow up a civilian airlines, which what happened in

10:58 Canada also with the Kanishka bombing, then the US must have taken note of it.

11:03 That should have been the first focal point where the United States should have cracked

11:07 down upon Gurpathwan Singh Pannu who openly stands in front of a United Nations building

11:12 in New York and issues threat to India, to Indian Prime Minister, to Indian envoys who

11:17 are working in Australia, Canada, US and other parts of the world.

11:22 So this dichotomy must end here and needless to say New Delhi would be responding shortly

11:28 and will keep a close eye on these developments and the way the India-Canada saga played out.

11:35 I'm sure White House would be, Washington would be also treading its ways cautiously

11:42 and not take any step in haste.

11:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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