Indian intelligence official charged in murder-for-hire plot on Sikh separatist leader in New York City

An Indian government official accused of directing a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City has been charged, federal prosecutors said Thursday. 

Vikash Yadav, 39, also known as Vikas and Amanat, is a former officer in India's Research and Analysis Wing spy service and remains at-large, according to an unsealed indictment. 

Authorities allege he directed the plot from India. 

"The defendant, an Indian government employee, allegedly conspired with a criminal associate and attempted to assassinate a U.S. citizen on American soil for exercising their First Amendment rights," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment on the charges. 

The Justice Department said Yadav and other Indian agents plotted to have Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun killed in a murder-for-hire scheme. 

Pannun has been a vocal critic of the Indian government and heads a U.S.-based group that advocates for the secession of Punjab, a northern Indian state with a large Sikh population. India has labeled Sikh separatists "terrorists" who pose threats to its security.

Yadav’s alleged co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, 52, was previously charged and extradited to the United States in June after his arrest in Prague. Yadav allegedly recruited Gupta in May 2023 to orchestrate the killing.

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Both men have been charged with murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder for hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

While putting the plan in motion, Gupta spoke with a confidential source working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) whom he believed would introduce him to a hitman, federal prosecutors said. 

In reality, the purported hitman was an undercover DEA agent. Gupta urged him to commit the murder as soon as possible but not around the same time as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official state visit to the U.S., which was scheduled around June 20, 2023.

Gupta allegedly told the undercover DEA agent Pannun's death could lead to protests and "political things," referring to the geopolitical fallout if he was killed on U.S. soil during Modi's visit. 

Two days before Modi's arrival in the U.S., masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist, outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Gupta allegedly told the undercover DEA agent Nijjar "was also the target" and that "we have so many targets."

"After that they have more jobs," he said, referring to more targeted killings, prosecutors said. 

Around the time of Modi's visit to the U.S., Yadav sent Gupta a news article about Pannun and messaged Gupta, saying, "It’s [a] priority now." prosecutors said. 

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In a statement, Pannun said the indictment means the U.S. government has "reassured its commitment to fundamental constitutional duty to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of the U.S. citizen at home and abroad."

"The attempt on my life on American Soil is the blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism which has become a challenge to America’s sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy, which unequivocally proves that India believes in using bullets while pro-Khalistan Sikhs believe in ballots," he added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.