An international narcotics trafficker conspired with a purported Indian government official in a $100,000 plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York City, according to an indictment announced Wednesday by federal prosecutors.
Nikhil Gupta, 52, an Indian national with self-described ties to drug and weapons trafficking, faces charges of murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire for his alleged role in the New York plot, according to the indictment. He is accused of plotting with an unnamed Indian government official who variously described himself as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in intelligence, and as a former member of India’s Central Reserve Police Force.
Gupta, who lives in India, was arrested in the Czech Republic in June on the request of U.S. officials and is awaiting extradition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. The alleged murder plot was disrupted by U.S. law enforcement, allegedly with the assistance of an undercover officer who posed as a hitman.
The revelation of the alleged plot, against a U.S. citizen who has supported a Sikh separatist movement in India, follows the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist in Canada in June. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of carrying out that killing, with which India vehemently denied involvement.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Damien Williams, who leads the Southern District, based in Manhattan.
The indictment only describes the intended target of the assassination plot as the U.S.-based leader of the Sikh separatist movement. Multiple news organizations, including The Associated Press and the New York Times, identified the intended victim…
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