Ex Indian Spy Charged In US Over Alleged Khalistani Terrorist Murder Plot

The United States has charged a former Indian intelligence officer for allegedly orchestrating a failed plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun residing in New York City. 

The ex-officer, previously associated with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is accused of coordinating an assassination attempt on Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen. The US Justice Department has charged him with murder-for-hire and money laundering. 

“The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the U.S. for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

The plot allegedly began in May 2023, with the former officer, then reportedly an employee of the Indian government, allegedly collaborating with individuals in India and overseas to execute the assassination. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the intended target, is a designated terrorist in India and an advocate for Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh homeland to be carved out of India.

According to Reuters, the ex-officer remains in India, but American officials are expected to pursue his extradition to face charges in the US.

Plot Details

The former RAW officer is accused of recruiting an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, to execute the assassination. Mr Gupta was arrested in Prague last June, after travelling from India, and subsequently extradited to the US, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The indictment describes how Mr Gupta was hired to “orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States.”

US authorities argue that Mr Gupta felt there was urgency in killing Pannun, particularly after the murder of another Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada in 2023. According to the indictment, Mr Gupta believed that after Nijjar’s killing, there was “now no need to wait” for Pannun’s assassination. 

According to the indictment, the ex-officer and Mr Gupta allegedly contracted an individual to carry out the killing for $100,000. The FBI later discovered that the hired assassin was, in fact, an FBI informant working undercover. In June 2023, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, the informant received a $15,000 advance for the murder from the ex-officer and Mr Gupta. The transaction reportedly took place in a car in New York, and a photograph of the exchange has been included in the indictment.

The indictment also includes an alleged photograph of the ex-officer in military attire. The prosecutors allege that the former officer instructed Mr Gupta and the hired assassin to delay the killing until after PM Modi’s visit to avoid diplomatic fallout during the high-profile event.

“A few minutes later, (the officer) messaged Gupta, instructing: ‘Let them also verify by their own… if they are able to get some proof that he is inside… it will be a go ahead from us,'” the indictment reads. 

‘Completely Unwarranted’

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) yesterday confirmed that the “individual” named in the US Justice Department’s indictment is no longer associated with the Indian government.

“The US State Department informed us that the individual in the Justice Department indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. 

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller yesterday confirmed that the Indian delegation had met with an inter-agency team from the FBI, Department of Justice, and the State Department. “We are satisfied with the cooperation,” Mr Miller told reporters. “It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation, and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours.”

In September this year, a US court issued a summons to the Indian government over Pannun’s civil suit, alleging a plot to murder him. The Indian government labelled the summons “completely unwarranted”. 

The summons had named Government of India, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, along with the former officer and Mr Gupta and sought a reply within 21 days.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said, “When these issues were first brought to our attention, we took action. There’s a high-level committee engaged (in this matter). I invite your attention to the person who filed this.”