Pannun 'assassination' plot: US sent 2 top officials to India to press for probe

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.

The federal prosecutors have now filed a case against an Indian national, named Nikhil Gupta, in a New York court charging him with 'murder-for-hire'. The US document does not mention the target but according to reports it is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a separatist Khalistani leader who is both a US and Canadian citizen.

This comes 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.

The indictment has not named the US citizen but The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, last week reported that US authorities thwarted a plot to assassinate banned Sikhs for Justice’s Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot.