Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in connection with his efforts to murder Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
According to police, the action was initiated after Pannun released a video message on social media in which he allegedly threatened to disturb peace and law and order in Delhi before the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.
Canadian police have arrested Khalistani terrorist Inderjeet Singh Gosal on firearms charges in Ontario, according to media reports.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at four locations in Punjab on Friday as part of its probe in a terror-conspiracy case involving designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a banned organisation associated with him.
A US court has dismissed a claim by Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun that court documents, including a summons, had been served on National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during his visit to Washington in February. The court found that the complaint was not delivered to Doval as required by the court's order.
"We have noted at the most senior levels of this government the secretary of state has raised this directly with his foreign counterpart that we take this issue very seriously. They told us they would conduct an investigation," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference on Tuesday.
'We are at the moment working with India to encourage India to hold accountable, those responsible for this terrible crime'
Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has filed a civil lawsuit against the Government of India and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, with a US court issuing summons in the case.
The FIR was registered at Amritsar's Sultanwind police station on January 23, the police said on Wednesday.
India on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims, saying that the report made "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputations on a serious matter and that an investigation into the case was underway.
The United States had a 'productive meeting' with visiting officials of the India Enquiry Committee, a State Department official said on Wednesday, adding they were satisfied with the cooperation from the Indian side.
US deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US raised the issue directly at the most senior levels of the Indian government.
America has thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh extremist in the US, and warned India that its government may have been involved in it, reports the Financial Times.
According to the Press Trust of India, Pannun, who has been designated as a terrorist by the Home Ministry, has also appealed to the banned CPI (Maoist) through a video uploaded on social media to disrupt the match, officials said.
Pannun, the self-proclaimed general counsel of "unlawful association" SFJ, released the video messages on social media platforms on November 4.
He is expected to be produced before a federal court in New York on Monday.
Security has been heightened around the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya following an alleged threat from pro-Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The founder of the banned outfit 'Sikhs for Justice' reportedly threatened to attack the temple on November 16-17, coinciding with the 'Ram Vivah' festival. Ayodhya has been fortified with increased police presence, surveillance, and anti-terror measures.
Congress members Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Shri Thanedar released a joint statement after receiving a classified briefing from the Biden Administration on Gupta's indictment.
In the first information report (FIR), the cyber crime branch of the Ahmedabad police said that people from across the country have received Pannun's threat via a pre-recorded voice message sent from a foreign number.
A new documentary claims British spy call intercepts helped Canadian authorities link India to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.
Designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), has released a new video asking Sikhs not to fly in Air India aircraft after November 19, as their lives can be under threat.
US says it wants 'meaningful accountability' on results of India's probe into Pannun murder-for-hire plot
A day after The Washington Post named an Indian official for allegedly plotting to eliminate Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, India on Tuesday said the report made 'unwarranted and unsubstantiated' imputations on a serious matter.
"We continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian government at senior levels," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
'If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law.'
India received consular access on at least three occasions to Nikhil Gupta, who is detained in a Czech prison following charges by the United States relating to a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh extremist.
India has constituted a probe team to investigate allegations relating to the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh extremist and known to be an American and Canadian citizen.
A high-powered enquiry committee set up by the Indian government has recommended legal action against an unnamed individual after probing activities of organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations that undermined the security interests of both India and the US. The probe was ordered after the US alleged an attempt to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun by Indian agents in New York in 2023. The committee, which received full cooperation from US authorities, has also recommended functional improvements in systems and procedures to strengthen India's response capability.
Vikas Yadav, 39, was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the federal prosecutors claimed on Thursday in an indictment filed in a US court in New York.
The United States is waiting to see the results of the Indian investigations on the murder allegations.
Quoting officials, The Washington Post said, the foiled assassination was part of an escalating campaign of aggression by RAW against the Indian diaspora in Asia, Europe and North America.
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea for consular access moved by a family member of Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who is in a Czech prison following charges by the US relating to a foiled assassination attempt on Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
'It was a fiasco on the part of the Indian government to think that it could carry out crimes in Canada and the US and get away with it'
The US Justice Department on Thursday charged Yadav for his role in the assassination plot.
"Insofar as the US is concerned, certain inputs were given to us as part of our security cooperation with the United States. Those inputs were of concern to us because they (were) related to the nexus of organised crime, trafficking and other matters.
Nikhil Gupta, 52, has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Matthew G Olsen said.
Rubbishing the allegations by the United States on India for a foiled assassination plot against pro-Khalistan radical Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington, DC has not yet provided any reliable evidence of the involvement of Indian citizens in the case.
Vikas Yadav, a former Indian government official charged by the United States authorities for his alleged role in a foiled plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, was arrested by Delhi Police in December last year in an unrelated extortion and kidnapping case, police sources said.
The Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing for January 4 2024, of the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Nikhil Gupta, accused by the United States of conspiring to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a India designated terrorist, against his arrest and ongoing extradition proceedings in the Czech Republic.
India has constituted a high-level inquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill a Sikh extremist on American soil.
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