Newly released court documents have detailed how a senior Indian intelligence officer allegedly recruited a businessman to assassinate a Canadian pro-Khalistan activist.
The unsealed files said Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national suspected of drugs and weapons trafficking, had admitted he was asked at a meeting in New Delhi to conduct the killing.
The target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer with Canadian and U.S. citizenship who heads Sikhs For Justice, a New York-based group that advocates for Khalistan.
Pannun was a close associate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023 — a killing Canada has blamed on India.
Both victims were involved in a symbolic referendum on Khalistan, the independent state they had campaigned to establish in what is now India’s Sikh-majority Punjab.
India has long complained that supporters of the Khalistan movement operate in Canada. Meanwhile, Ottawa has accused India of violating Canada’s sovereignty by conducting a killing on Canadian soil.
Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the recent G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., but the dispute over New Delhi’s alleged activities in Canada remains unresolved.
Vikash Yadav, a.k.a Amanat, allegedly recruited Nikhil Gupta by offering to drop robbery charges he faced in India.
U.S. District Court
According to documents tabled in U.S. District Court, Gupta confessed his involvement in the plot to kill Pannun in a van after he was arrested at Prague airport on June 30, 2023.
He said the conspiracy began when he returned home to India following a trip to Uzbekistan and was informed he was scheduled for a court appearance on robbery charges.
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He was then contacted by a man known as Amanat, who said he could clear Gupta’s name.
“Gupta and Amanat met in New Delhi, India shortly thereafter,” according to the summary of Gupta’s statement. “Amanat asked Gupta to have someone in New York City killed.”
The U.S. has alleged that Amanat is Vikash Yadav, who works for the Research and Analysis Wing, the intelligence agency that reports to the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yadav allegedly gave Gupta Pannun’s residential addresses, phone numbers, and other information, and arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to pay for the murder.
After Gupta agreed to the killing, Yadav allegedly told him the charges had “been taken care of” and “nobody will ever bother you again,” according to the U.S. allegations.
Gupta allegedly hired a hitman he thought was a Colombian cocaine supplier but who was actually a confidential source working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the records show.
Gupta is accused of offering the DEA source $100,000 to kill Pannun, and discussing additional murders in Canada. The plot was still in the planning stages when Nijjar was killed.
Nikhil Gupta cooperated with U.S. investigators following his arrest in Prague.
U.S. District Court
The day after Nijjar’s murder, Gupta showed an undercover agent a video of the slaying and identified the victim as the Canadian target he had previously mentioned, according to the court documents.
“This strongly suggests that Gupta and/or persons working with Gupta were responsible for the associate’s murder,” the U.S. Justice Department wrote in its summary of the investigation.
On June 19, 2023, Gupta told the undercover agent that Pannun’s murder “should be carried out as soon as possible, without regard to collateral consequences such as potential harm to civilian bystanders or any resulting protests or political upheaval,” according to the records.
“Gupta told the undercover agent, in sum and substance, that after he (the undercover agent) kills the intended victim, Gupta planned to direct the undercover agent to kill additional targets, at least some of whom are in Canada.”
But the plans went awry when Czech police arrested Gupta at Prague airport. A description of his arrest released in court stated that Gupta was cooperative and provided Amanat’s contact information.
Indian intelligence officer’s contact information was allegedly found on Nikhil Gupta’s phone, pictured.
U.S. District Court
“The first thing that Gupta said was, in substance, ‘I want to cooperate. Take me to America and I’ll cooperate right now with you guys,’” according to a description of the arrest filed in court.
Gupta has been extradited to the U.S. to stand trial for the plot to kill Pannun. His lawyers want some of the evidence suppressed and one of the counts dropped.
The U.S. also indicted Yadav, the Indian intelligence officer, for murder conspiracy. He has not been taken into custody and is on the FBI’s most wanted list.
The RCMP has not publicly disclosed who was behind Nijjar’s murder, but has alleged that Indian government agents were involved. Four suspected hitmen were arrested in Alberta and Ontario last May.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said in its annual report last week that foreign governments were increasingly using crime groups to carry out killings of dissidents and opponents.
“This is what India is doing now,” Pannun said an in interview on Friday. Using criminal networks allows the Indian government to put “distance” between itself and killings, he said.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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