Vikash Yadav, a former employee of the Indian government, has been indicted in the U.S. on charges of directing the assassination attempt of a Sikh separatist leader in New York City. The Justice Department charged Yadav with three counts of murder-for-hire and money laundering, alleging he orchestrated the plot from India. Yadav hired Nikhil Gupta, another Indian national, who was arrested in connection with the plot and extradited to the U.S. Yadav remains at large, with the FBI issuing a wanted poster for him.
The victim of the assassination attempt was an attorney and political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin. The indictment was issued amid diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, with Canada accusing India of plotting the murder of another Sikh activist. India denied the allegations and both countries expelled each other’s diplomats.
Yadav, who was employed by India’s Cabinet secretariat, directed the assassination plot using an alias. Gupta was involved in trying to hire a hitman, but the person they contacted was an undercover DEA officer. Yadav agreed to pay $100,000 to the hitman, with an advance payment of $15,000 made in June. The undercover officer was instructed not to carry out the killing during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington.
The Justice Department called the charges a grave example of violent transnational repression targeting diaspora communities in the U.S. The State Department has called for India to cooperate with Canada’s investigation into the separate alleged assassination plot.
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