The newly published court documents have detailed how an Indian intelligence officer would have recruited a businessman to assassinate a Canadian pro-Khalistan activist.
Unclosed files said Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national suspected of drug trafficking and weapons, had admitted that he had been asked at a meeting in New Delhi to lead the murder.
The objective was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer for Canadian and American citizenship who heads Sikhs for Justice, a group based in New York who defends the Khalistan.
Pannun was a close partner of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot down outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, June 18, 2023 – A Canada killing India.
The two victims were involved in a symbolic referendum on the Khalistan, the independent state they had campaigned to establish in what is the Punjab of India Sikh-Majority.
India has long complained that supporters of the Khalistan movement operated in Canada. Meanwhile, Ottawa accused India of raping Canada’s sovereignty by leading murder on Canadian soil.
Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the recent G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, but the dispute over the alleged activities of New Delhi in Canada is not resolved.
Vikash Yadav, alias Amanat, would have recruited Nikhil Gupta by offering to drop accusations of qualified flight in India.
American district courtyard
According to documents filed before the American district court, Gupta admitted his involvement in the plot to kill Pannun in a van after being arrested at Prague airport on June 30, 2023.
He said the conspiracy started on his return to India after a trip to Uzbekistan and was informed that he had to appear for flight accusations.
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He was then contacted by a known man AmateWho said he could erase the name of Gupta.
“Gupta and Amanat met in New Delhi, India, shortly after,” according to the summary of the Gupta declaration. “Amanat asked Gupta to have someone killed in New York.”
The United States has allegedly allegedly alienated Vikash Yadav, who works for the research and analysis wing, the intelligence agency that comes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yadav would have given the residential addresses of Gupta Pannun, phone numbers and other information, and would have organized a partner to deliver $ 15,000 in cash to pay the murder.
After Gupta accepted the murder, Yadav would have told him that the charges had been “taken care of” and “nobody will never bother you again,” according to American allegations.
Gupta would have hired a hit killer whom he thought was a Colombian cocaine supplier but who was in fact a confidential source working for the US Drug Enfacing Administration, according to the files.
GUPTA is accused of offering $ 100,000 to kill Pannun and to discuss additional murders in Canada. The plot was still in the planning phase when Nijjar was killed.
Nikhil Gupta cooperated with American investigators after his arrest in Prague.
American district courtyard
The day after the murder of Nijjar, Gupta showed an infiltrated agent an murder video and identified the victim as the Canadian target he had mentioned above, according to court documents.
“This strongly suggests that Gupta and / or the people working with Gupta were responsible for the murder of the partner,” wrote the United States Ministry of Justice in his summary of the investigation.
On June 19, 2023, Gupta told the infiltration agent that the murder of Pannun “should be carried out as soon as possible, without regard to the collateral consequences such as the potential damage for civilian passers -by or any protest which results in or political upheaval,” according to the archives.
“Gupta told the infiltration agent, in short and in substance, that after having (the infiltration agent) who killed the planned victim, Gupta plans to ask the infiltration agent to kill additional objectives, at least some of whom are in Canada.”
But the plans went wrong when the Czech police arrested Gupta at Prague airport. A description of his arrest published in court declared that GUPTA was cooperative and provided the contact details of Amanat.
The contact details of the Indian intelligence agent were reportedly found on Nikhil Gupta’s phone, illustrated.
American district courtyard
“The first thing Gupta said was, in essence,” I want to cooperate. Take me to America and I will cooperate now with you, ”according to a description of the arrest filed in court.
GUPTA was extradited to the United States to be tried so that the plot kills Pannun. His lawyers want some of the evidence to deleted and one of the charges fell.
THE The United States has also charged YadavThe Indian intelligence officer, for the murder plot. It was not placed in police custody and is on the FBI’s most sought after list.
The RCMP did not reveal publicly who was behind the murder of Nijjar, but allegedly alleged that Indian government agents were involved. Four alleged hitmen were arrested in Alberta and Ontario last May.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said in its annual report last week that foreign governments are increasingly using crime groups to carry out dissidents and adversaries.
“This is what India is doing now,” Pannun said on Friday. The use of criminal networks allows the Indian government to put a “distance” between him and the murders, he said.
Stewart.bell@globalnews.ca
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