US: Pannun ‘plotters’ discussed another kill

US prosecutors feature alleged that native american subject Nikhil Gupta and former intelligence service operative Vikash Yadav, accused of involvement in a plot of ground to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, had discussed the murder of another individual in Nepal or Pakistan.The allegation was made in a document filed this week in the US district court in the Southern District of New York, which is set to begin the trial of Gupta on November 3. The 61-page motion mostly lists the evidence gathered against the two men by US prosecutors, including Yadav’s email exchanges and hundreds of WhatsApp messages.Czech authorities arrested Gupta at the request of American law enforcement in June 2023, and he was extradited to the US in June 2024. The external affairs ministry confirmed last October that the Indian government had sacked Yadav. A former officer of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Yadav was deputed to the external intelligence agency. He was removed from his position after an indictment filed by US prosecutors in November 2023 pointed to his role in the alleged plot.The new court filing alleged that Gupta and Yadav began working together in early May 2023, when “Yadav asked Gupta to arrange the murder of the Victim [and] the murder of another individual in Nepal or Pakistan”. Though the document doesn’t name the “victim”, it is apparently referring to Pannun.The US prosecutors also alleged the two men were linked to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in the Canadian town of Surrey in 2023.There was no response to the development from Indian officials.After information emerged about the alleged plot against Pannun, the Indian government set up an inquiry committee to look into the matter. The committee, headed by a senior official of the National Security Council, said in a report sent to the government early this year that legal action should be taken against an individual whose “criminal links and antecedents” had come to light. The committee also recommended “functional improvements” in procedures to strengthen India’s response and ensure systematic controls in dealing with such matters.The Indian government has dismissed allegations by Canadian authorities about government agents being allegedly linked to Nijjar’s killing as “absurd”. New Delhi has also said Ottawa never provided any evidence to back up its allegations.The document filed in the Manhattan court stated that US prosecutors will offer evidence that Gupta and Yadav allegedly “targeted the Victim as a part of a larger plot to carry out murders, including killings of members of the Sikh separatist movement, such as the Victim and Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and engaged in the planning of additional murders in Canada and in Nepal or Pakistan”.This evidence will include testimony by an undercover officer (UC) and a confidential source (CS) – both of whom weren’t identified in the document – and “text messages and recorded audio and video conversations between Gupta” and the CS and the UC. The US prosecutors will also present communications from Gupta’s cellphones “between Gupta and Yadav that capture their discussions about targeting Nijjar [and] their efforts to kill another individual in Nepal or Pakistan”, the filing said.The document cites WhatsApp messages to allege that Gupta messaged Yadav in mid-May 2023 and said “the hitmen had ‘already arrived [in Nepal] and looking for’ the intended victim”.The document suggests that Yadav was using two Gmail accounts for both contacting Gupta and official work. The evidence from these email accounts was obtained by US authorities through a judicial search warrant, and was “certified as true and correct Google records by a Google records custodian”, the document stated. It further states that the phone number allegedly used by Yadav to communicate with Gupta on WhatsApp was the recovery phone number for one of the Gmail accounts.The new allegations suggest US prosecutors believe the alleged murder-for-hire plot was wider in scope than previously revealed and spread across multiple countries.Gupta has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him in the US. American authorities issued an arrest warrant for Yadav last year and Bloomberg reported that his lawyer in India declined comment, saying he hadn’t been formally presented with the charges.Canadian authorities have charged four Indian nationals for Nijjar’s murder, and their trial is unlikely to begin before late next year.