EDITORIAL: Newly unsealed court documents from a federal case in New York have revealed an alarming murder-for-hire plot that involves Indian intelligence operatives, arms trafficking, and a conspiracy to assassinate a US citizen. Prosecutors say the plan targeted Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a political activist and outspoken advocate for Khalistan — an independent Sikh state — and a vocal critic of the Indian government.
According to American authorities, the (abortive) plot was orchestrated by Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national who worked in coordination with a man identified in court documents only as “CC-1” and described as a former officer of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and trained in battle craft and weapons. Gupta directed the plot remotely from India.
At the centre of the murder conspiracy is another former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav. Court documents show that Yadav not only promised to supply firearms but also assured official clearance for an aircraft to transport weapons from India — a startling revelation that suggests high-level official complicity far beyond the actions of rogue individuals. The weapons purportedly were intended for sale to someone Gupta believed to be a narcotics trafficker, who could connect him with a contract killer.
In reality, the supposed trafficker was an undercover agent from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the intended assassin was also a DEA officer posing as a hitman. The case, according to prosecutors, is not an isolated incident. The same court filings indicate that the conspiracy extended beyond New York, with plans to kill another individual in either Nepal or Pakistan.
The identity of that second target has not been disclosed. However, there is a broader trend of extraterritorial killings carried out by Indian intelligence agents, including the reported assassination of at least 20 Sikh and Kashmiri dissidents in Pakistan in recent years.
The New York case also echoes the high-profile killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistan activist, who was gunned down outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June 2023. That assassination had triggered a diplomatic standoff between Canada and India, with Canadian authorities publicly accusing Indian agents of involvement.
The recurrence of such assassination plots in various countries underscores a troubling pattern: increasing use of transnational repression by the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to silence critics and dissidents abroad. Attorney and former FBI Director Christopher Wray has stated that the bureau “will not tolerate attempts by foreign nationals, or anyone else, to repress constitutionally protected freedoms in the United States.”
Whether the current case will be prosecuted to its full extent and whether all those involved— regardless of nationality or diplomatic status—will be held accountable, remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that justice must not be compromised by geopolitical considerations. The US needs to send an unambiguous message that the targeting of its citizens for political reasons by any foreign government will result in firm legal and diplomatic consequences. Anything less would set a dangerous precedent, encouraging further acts of extraterritorial violence.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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