US State Secretary Antony Blinken has
called US Justice Department’s indictment of an Indian national for his alleged
involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate Separatist Movement leader Gurpatwant
Pannun, an ongoing legal matter.
He said the Indian Government’s decision
to investigate the matter was “good and appropriate” and added US looked
forward to seeing the results.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv,
Blinken said the US Government has raised the matter directly with the Indian Government
in the past weeks.
Blinken said, “With regard to India,
first, this is an ongoing legal matter. So you’ll understand I can’t comment on
it in detail. I can say that this is something we take very seriously. A number
of us have risen this directly with the Indian Government in past weeks. The
government announced today that it was conducting an investigation, and that’s
good and appropriate, and we look forward to seeing the results.”
His statement comes after US Justice
Department unsealed an indictment against an Indian national for his alleged
involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate a US-based leader of the Sikh
Separatist Movement and a citizen in New York.
The US Justice Department has claimed
that an Indian Government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the
indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national
named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination, which was
foiled by US authorities, according to prosecutors.
Gupta is currently in custody and has
been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years
in prison. Czech authorities had arrested and detained Gupta on June 30,
pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between United States and Czech
Republic.
In its indictment the US Justice
Department has claimed that, earlier this year, an Indian Government employee
working together with others, including Gupta, directed a plot to assassinate
on a political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New
York City.
It is claimed that Gupta, is an
associate of CC-1, and has described his involvement in international narcotics
and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1. The indictment claims
CC -1 directed the assassination plot from India.
At CC-1’s direction, Gupta contacted an
individual whom he believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a
confidential source working with the DEA.
The source it is alleged introduced
Gupta to a purported hitman, who was a DEA undercover officer. The purported
hitman was offered US$ 100,000 to murder the Separatist leader, the Justice
Department claims.
India has since formed a high-level
inquiry committee to address the security concerns highlighted by the US Government.
ANI
