{"id":26662,"date":"2023-11-30T06:06:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T11:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=26662"},"modified":"2023-11-30T06:06:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T11:06:58","slug":"us-says-it-foiled-alleged-plot-to-assassinate-sikh-activist-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/11\/30\/us-says-it-foiled-alleged-plot-to-assassinate-sikh-activist-in-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"US says it foiled alleged plot to assassinate Sikh activist in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The US has said it foiled an alleged plot to assassinate an American citizen in New York who advocated for a Sikh separatist state.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, is accused of trying to hire a hitman for $100,000 (\u00a379,000) in cash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But the hitman was actually an undercover federal agent, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Gupta, 52, is in jail in the Czech Republic pending extradition. The charges carry up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He was allegedly directed by an Indian government official who was not named or charged in the indictment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The White House said it had raised the alleged assassination plot with India at the most senior levels, and officials there responded with “surprise and concern”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A senior administration official said the murder-for-hire allegations so concerned President Joe Biden that he dispatched top US intelligence leaders – CIA Director William Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines – to India to speak to officials there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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India’s government, meanwhile, said it was investigating and had formed a high-level inquiry committee to “address the security concerns highlighted by the US government”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While the target was not named by prosecutors, US media reported it was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen and member of a US-based Sikh activist group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Is India ready to face the consequences of using trans-national terrorism?” Mr Pannun said to the BBC’s Asian Network about the alleged plot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He added that he was sure anyone who was “attempting to kill or assassinate me – whether it is India diplomats, whether it is Indian RAW [Research and Analysis Wing intelligence] agents – they will face the law”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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India has designated Mr Pannun a terrorist – an allegation he denies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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India says he repeatedly issues threats against the country. But Mr Pannun says he an activist who just believes in the Khalistan movement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Gurpatwant<\/a>
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, pictured in his office in New York, has been named in US media as the target of the alleged plot. (Image: AP\/Ted Shaffrey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Sikhs are a religious minority that make up about 2% of India’s population. Some groups have long called for a separate homeland for Sikhs called Khalistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Those calls peaked in India in the 1980s with an armed insurgency that was later crushed, killing thousands. Supporters in the Sikh diaspora have continued to advocate for Khalistan, however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The movement is not prominent in India now with most major political parties, including in Punjab, opposing such calls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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News of the alleged plot in the US comes after Canada’s\u00a0Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was “credible” evidence<\/a>\u00a0tying the Indian government to the murder of another Sikh activist in British Columbia in June. India denies any role in that killing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Trudeau said the indictment on Wednesday underscored the need for India to take that allegation seriously.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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