A timeline of plots against Sikh activists, according to Canada and the US
Federal prosecutors in the United States announced this week that they had charged an Indian national with murder-for-hire against a Sikh activist in New York. The plot was foiled, they said, but it further complicated the delicate diplomatic relations between the United States, Canada and India.
President Biden has sought to strengthen ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid rising tensions with China and a standoff with Russia. But prosecutors said the plan to kill the activist in New York was orchestrated by an Indian government official, potentially disrupting the Biden administration’s outreach to India.
U.S. prosecutors also linked the plot to a murder in Canada last June. Relations between India and Canada had deteriorated this fall after Canadian officials accused Indian government agents of the killing.
Here’s a timeline of the events as U.S. and Canadian officials laid them out.
In or around May 2023
U.S. prosecutors said that around this time, an unnamed Indian government official recruited Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, to orchestrate the murder of a U.S. citizen, the indictment said. The target of the plot described in court documents was Gurpatwant Singh Pannunan outspoken critic of the Indian government and the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, which advocates the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India.
May 29
Mr. Gupta began looking for someone in the United States to hire for murder, prosecutors said — but the person he found, they said, was actually an undercover U.S. government agent. Over the next few weeks, the two discussed the logistics of the murder and the price.
June 9
Mr. Gupta arranged for an associate to hand over $15,000 in cash to the person he believed was a hitman, the indictment said, calling the money an advance for the killing.
June 11
The unnamed Indian official told Mr. Gupta that if he could not kill the planned victim that same day, the indictment said, the killing would have to wait until after diplomatic engagements between senior American and Indian officials. Mr. Gupta had already warned in a phone call that “we have to calm everything down for 10 days,” and said the killing could lead to protests and “political matters,” according to prosecutors.
June 12 to 14
During a telephone conversation, Mr. Gupta said an associate about a “major target” in Canada and that he would share details, prosecutors said.
June 18
A masked gunman killed 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent leader of the Sikh community, at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Temple in British Columbia, Canada. The gunmen drove away in a getaway car, leaving Mr. Nijjar’s bloodied body, prosecutors said, in his bullet-ridden vehicle parked outside the temple.
June 19
Mr. Gupta forwarded a video clip of Mr. Nijjar’s body to the alleged assassin in the United States and then told him: “The good news is this: now you don’t have to wait anymore,” according to the complaint. However, he warned that the target would now likely be more cautious.
June 22
President Biden formally welcomed Prime Minister Modi of India to the White House for a state dinner in an effort to strengthen US-India ties.
June 24 to June 29
Mr. Gupta continued his plan and had the potential victim tracked and tracked, prosecutors said.
June 30th
According to the indictment, Mr. Gupta traveled from India to the Czech Republic. Upon arrival, Czech authorities arrested him at the request of the United States in connection with his role in the alleged plot.
September 10
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Mr Biden each met Mr Modi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi.
Mr. Trudeau later told Canada’s House of Commons that he had raised India’s alleged involvement in the shooting of Mr. Nijjar with Mr. Modi when they met in New Delhi.
Mr. Biden instructed the CIA director to visit India in August to discuss the suspected assassination plot and press the Indian government to hold those involved accountable, according to U.S. officials familiar with the events. Mr Biden himself raised the New York plot directly with Mr Modi when they met in New Delhi.
21st of September
India suspended visa applications of Canadian citizens, escalating the conflict between the two countries.
September 23
U.S. spy agencies provided Canada with information supporting claims that the Indian government was behind Mr. Nijjar’s killing, Western allied officials said.
19 October
Canada withdrew two-thirds of its diplomats from India because India threatened to revoke their diplomatic immunity.
November 29
An indictment outlining the charges against Mr. Gupta was unsealed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was charged with murder for commission and conspiracy to commit murder for commission.
India’s foreign ministry said it considers the allegation a matter of concern and the government has appointed a high-level commission of inquiry to investigate it.