U.S. charges Indian national with plotting to assassinate Sikh separatist in New York

Washington — Federal prosecutors in New York charged an Indian national with an alleged plot to kill a Sikh political activist living in the U.S., an explosive case that could have broader ramifications for relations between the two allies amid allegations of a similar plot in Canada.

Nikhil Gupta, who resides in India, is charged with two counts of murder-for-hire and conspiracy. He was arrested over the summer in Europe and is pending extradition. 

In court documents unsealed Tuesday, investigators in the Southern District of New York alleged Gupta was recruited by an unnamed Indian government official who had claimed to be part of that nation's intelligence community. At the official's direction, Gupta and another unnamed contact tried to hire a hitman to murder the unnamed victim, who prosecutors described in court papers as a vocal critic of the Indian government and staunch advocate for a Sikh sovereign state in the region. The activist had been banned from India for his separatist views and now lives in the U.S., according to the charging documents.