Premi Posted November 29, 2023 Report Share Posted November 29, 2023 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/29/india-us-assassination-plot-sikh-pannun/ U.S. prosecutors allege assassination plot of Sikh separatist directed by Indian government employee By Ellen Nakashima , Gerry Shih and Amanda Coletta Updated November 29, 2023 at 1:22 p.m. EST|Published November 29, 2023 at 5:24 a.m. EST Demonstrators gather outside the Indian Consulate in Toronto on Sept. 25 to protest the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters) Listen Share Comment Add to your saved stories Save An Indian government employee who described himself as a “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence ordered the assassination of a Sikh separatist in New York City in May, U.S. prosecutors alleged Wednesday. The court filing heightens scrutiny of India’s spy services following similar allegations made by Canadian authorities in September. The government employee, who was not named in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hit man to carry out the assassination, which was foiled by U.S. authorities, according to prosecutors. The court filing did not name the victim, but senior Biden administration officials say the target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice, a group that advocates the creation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan within India. The scheme was foiled in June by the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. ... CIA Director William J. Burns flew to India in August and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines followed in October, said the officials, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. The Justice Department said Wednesday that the unnamed Indian government employee agreed, in a deal brokered by Gupta, to pay $100,000 to a purported hit man who was in fact an undercover U.S. law enforcement officer. On June 19, one day after Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was assassinated in Canada, Gupta told the purported hit man to proceed with the New York murder, explaining that both Sikhs were on the same list of targets, U.S. prosecutors said. ... The charges against Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in late June pending extradition to the United States, build on a bare-bones indictment, filed in mid-June and unsealed in July. That filing alleged that Gupta coordinated a $15,000 advance payment to the purported hit man’s associate. ... The indictment contains chilling details, alleging that the Indian government employee and Gupta had a sweeping plan to kill “so many targets,” as Gupta put it, in Canada and the United States. The operations would be directed from India. Besides the target in New York, at least one other was in California and three were in Canada, according to the filing. Prosecutors reference the killing of Nijjar in Canada. On June 12, on a call with a DEA informant, Gupta stated that there was a “big target” in Canada, the indictment says. On June 18, masked gunmen murdered Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, the indictment noted 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GurjantGnostic Posted December 2, 2023 Report Share Posted December 2, 2023 On 11/29/2023 at 11:41 AM, Premi said: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/29/india-us-assassination-plot-sikh-pannun/ U.S. prosecutors allege assassination plot of Sikh separatist directed by Indian government employee By Ellen Nakashima , Gerry Shih and Amanda Coletta Updated November 29, 2023 at 1:22 p.m. EST|Published November 29, 2023 at 5:24 a.m. EST Demonstrators gather outside the Indian Consulate in Toronto on Sept. 25 to protest the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters) Listen Share Comment Add to your saved stories Save An Indian government employee who described himself as a “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence ordered the assassination of a Sikh separatist in New York City in May, U.S. prosecutors alleged Wednesday. The court filing heightens scrutiny of India’s spy services following similar allegations made by Canadian authorities in September. The government employee, who was not named in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hit man to carry out the assassination, which was foiled by U.S. authorities, according to prosecutors. The court filing did not name the victim, but senior Biden administration officials say the target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice, a group that advocates the creation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan within India. The scheme was foiled in June by the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. ... CIA Director William J. Burns flew to India in August and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines followed in October, said the officials, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. The Justice Department said Wednesday that the unnamed Indian government employee agreed, in a deal brokered by Gupta, to pay $100,000 to a purported hit man who was in fact an undercover U.S. law enforcement officer. On June 19, one day after Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was assassinated in Canada, Gupta told the purported hit man to proceed with the New York murder, explaining that both Sikhs were on the same list of targets, U.S. prosecutors said. ... The charges against Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in late June pending extradition to the United States, build on a bare-bones indictment, filed in mid-June and unsealed in July. That filing alleged that Gupta coordinated a $15,000 advance payment to the purported hit man’s associate. ... The indictment contains chilling details, alleging that the Indian government employee and Gupta had a sweeping plan to kill “so many targets,” as Gupta put it, in Canada and the United States. The operations would be directed from India. Besides the target in New York, at least one other was in California and three were in Canada, according to the filing. Prosecutors reference the killing of Nijjar in Canada. On June 12, on a call with a DEA informant, Gupta stated that there was a “big target” in Canada, the indictment says. On June 18, masked gunmen murdered Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, the indictment noted There are times when one can truly love America. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted December 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2023 On 12/2/2023 at 6:18 PM, GurjantGnostic said: There are times when one can truly love America. . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67836968 Three arrested and charged over Sikh activist's killing in Canada Three Indian nationals have been arrested and charged over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, which sparked a major diplomatic row between the two countries. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead last June by masked gunmen in a busy car park in a Vancouver suburb. The diplomatic row escalated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India's government may have been involved. Delhi strongly denied the allegation. In announcing the arrests on Friday, Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said the three suspects were Karan Brar, 22, Kamal Preet Singh, 22, and 28-year-old Karan Preet Singh. He said all three had been living in Edmonton, Alberta where they were arrested. They have been charged with first-degree murder, court records show, as well as conspiracy to commit murder. All had been in Canada for three to five years, police said. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted June 7 Author Report Share Posted June 7 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/amandeep-singh-nijjar-sikh-modi-1.7222853 Man charged with murder of Sikh activist arrested near site of planned Sikh gathering in Ontario Amandeep Singh was arrested just one day before wedding brought together key Khalistani supporters in Brampton Evan Dyer · CBC News · Posted: Jun 03, 2024 5:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 4 Nijjar's accused killer arrested near gathering with major Sikh separatist leaders 4 days ago Duration2:14 The arrest in Brampton, Ont., of Amandeep Singh — one of four men charged in connection with the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar — happened just one day before a wedding in that city brought together many of India's Sikh enemies, CBC News has learned. The arrest in Brampton, Ont. on Nov. 3, 2023 of Amandeep Singh — one of four men charged in connection with a killing that Ottawa has linked directly with the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — happened just one day before a wedding in that city brought together a who's-who of New Delhi's Sikh enemies list, CBC News has learned. Singh was arrested four and a half months after Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a prominent Sikh-Canadian activist, president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. and a key proponent of the Khalistani movement, which campaigns for a Sikh state independent from India — was shot dead in the parking lot of the gurdwara on June 18, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said repeatedly there is credible information pointing to the Indian government's involvement in Nijjar's death. Amandeep Singh initially was charged only with firearms, drug and breach offences. He spent six months in pre-trial detention before he was hit with an additional first-degree murder charge in the Nijjar case. Nijjar had been warned by RCMP that his life was in danger. The Nov. 4, 2023 wedding of the son of a prominent Khalistani activist at a gurdwara in Brampton was attended by a number of people who also have reason to believe that their lives are in danger from the government of India, including some who have received "Duty to Warn" letters from the RCMP. The RCMP issues "Duty to Warn" letters under a B.C. law that directs authorities to notify people when they become aware of a threat to their safety. The legislation that governs such notifications says the danger "must be a risk that is likely to happen." Sikh insiders say the community expected that the man assumed to be one of India's top-priority targets, U.S.-Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, would be at the wedding as one of the oldest and closest friends of the groom's father. According to a U.S. federal indictment unsealed in November, Indian agents already tried to kill Pannun in New York City, but made the mistake of trying to hire a hitman through a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confidential informant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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