U.S. blames Indian official for assassination plot against Khalistani separatist
Washington (PTI): The US sent its two top intelligence officials to India to press for an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader on American soil earlier this year and hold to account those responsible, an influential American media outlet reported on Wednesday, citing senior administration officials.
The explosive allegations, contained in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment that was publicly released on Wednesday, accuse a senior Indian intelligence official, as yet unnamed but referred to as CC-1, of masterminding the assassination plot. The report came on a day when India said that it has constituted a high-level enquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill the Sikh extremist on American soil.
According to the indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the unnamed Indian official was a “Senior Field Officer”, with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence,” and had communicated with Mr. Gupta from May 2023, asking him to help arrange Mr. Pannun’s murder.
“CC-1 was employed at all times relevant to this Indictment by the Indian government, resides in India, and directed the assassination plot from India,” the indictment says. It contains detailed accounts of the telephone communications between “CC-1” and “Gupta”, including hiring a hit-man on the promise of a final payment of up to $150,000 for the killing, and sharing details of Mr. Pannun’s whereabouts as well as his residence location. The communications quoted even said that, in June, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due in Washington for a State visit, Mr. Gupta was told to “calm everything” for about 10 days, but otherwise was told to organise the “execution” at the earliest possible date.
The United States has discovered a plot to assassinate a separatist Sikh leader on the US soil, the Post reported. It added that the issue has been raised by top leadership including President Joe Biden and CIA Director William J Burns and they have demanded New Delhi to hold those accountable for it.
"Gupta allegedly conspired with a number of others, at least one of whom is believed to be an official in India," The Post reported citing anonymous sources from the Biden Administration. The plot was foiled in June by the Drug Enforcement Administration, shortly after a Sikh separatist in Canada was assassinated.
"The discovery of a plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on US soil earlier this year so concerned the Biden administration that it dispatched its top two intelligence officials to New Delhi to demand the Indian government investigate and hold to account those responsible," a senior administration official was quoted as saying by the daily.
CIA Director William J. Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines were the two officials.
“The defendant [Nikhil Gupta] conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs, an ethnoreligious minority group in India,” U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said, in a press release issued by the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “We will not tolerate efforts to assassinate U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, and stand ready to investigate, thwart, and prosecute anyone who seeks to harm and silence Americans here or abroad,” Mr. Williams added.
The charges against Gupta, who is not in the United States, will build on a bare-bones indictment, filed in mid-June and unsealed in July, which alleged that Gupta coordinated a USD15,000 advance payment to a purported hit man's associate, according to the people familiar with the matter, the daily claimed.
That document gives no indication of who the intended victim was; additional details will be contained in what is known as a superseding indictment, it said.
On Wednesday, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the US side shared some "inputs" pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners and terrorists and that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on "our national security interests as well" and that relevant departments were examining the issue.
India constituted a high-level enquiry committee on November 18 to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter, he said.
The daily reported that Biden himself raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting held on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in New Delhi in September.
"Indian counterparts expressed surprise and concern" when confronted by the allegations, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said last week, when the news of the foiled plan broke. "They stated that activity of this nature was not their policy," Watson was quoted as saying by the daily.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Pannun claimed "India wants to kill me for running the Khalistan referendum campaign."
The filing of new charges could complicate the Biden administration's efforts to deepen strategic ties with India as a counterweight to China, The Washington Post reported. "There's little to be gained diplomatically from attempting to shame this Indian government and lots to lose," Daniel Markey, a senior adviser on South Asia at the United States Institute of Peace, told the daily.
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6 dead, several injured in stampede at Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar
Haridwar (PTI): Six people died and at least two dozen were injured in a stampede at Haridwar's Mansa Devi temple on Sunday, a police officer said.
Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Singh Dobal told PTI Videos that 35 people had been rushed to a hospital, of whom six died.
The officer said a rumour of an electric current ahead of the spot where the steps to the temple begin sent the devotees panicking, leading to a stampede.
According to officials, the incident took place at around 9.30 am. The State Disaster Response Force and the fire brigade are at the spot, he said.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was saddened by the incident and asserted that the situation was being monitored.
"Very sad news has been received about a stampede on the way to the Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar. SDRF, local police and other rescue teams have reached the spot and are engaged in relief and rescue operations," Dhami said in a post on Facebook.
"I am constantly in touch with the local administration in this regard, and the situation is being constantly monitored. I pray to Mata Rani for the safety of all the devotees," he added.
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