周四，一名前印度政府雇员被指控纽约联邦检察官称，他因参与策划暗杀一名锡克教分裂分子和印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪政府的批评者而被判雇佣谋杀。
前印度情报官员Vikash Yadav仍然在逃。
这起雇凶杀人阴谋的同谋者Nikhil Gupta此前受到指控，并于6月被引渡到美国。
据检察官称，亚达夫涉嫌从国外策划了杀害总部设在纽约的锡克教正义领袖Gurpatwant Singh Pannun的阴谋，该组织一直倡导建立一个主权锡克教国家。
根据法庭记录，亚达夫招募古普塔实施暗杀阴谋;然而，古普塔雇佣的杀手原来是美国缉毒署的卧底探员。
2023年6月18日，在莫迪计划访问美国的前两天，蒙面枪手在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的一座锡克教寺庙外谋杀了哈迪普·辛格·尼贾尔(Hardeep Singh Nijjar)，他是Pannun的一名助手。
那次事件导致印度和加拿大的外交关系破裂。
尼贾尔被杀的第二天，古普塔告诉这位“杀手”,现在没有必要再等下去了。
美国司法部长梅里克·加兰周四在指控后的一份声明中说:“司法部将毫不留情地追究任何试图伤害美国公民并让他们保持沉默的人的责任，无论他们的职位或与权力的关系如何。”。
加兰说:“据称，去年，我们挫败了印度政府雇员维卡什·亚达夫(Vikash Yadav)和他的同谋尼基尔·古普塔(Nikhil Gupta)在美国领土上暗杀一名美国公民的企图。”
Former Indian intelligence officer charged in foiled Sikh murder-for-hire plot: DOJ
A former Indian government employee was charged Thursday inNew Yorkwith murder-for-hire for his role in directing a foiled plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist and critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, federal prosecutors said.
Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence officer, remains at large.
A co-conspirator of the murder-for-hire plot, Nikhil Gupta, was previously charged and extradited to the U.S. in June.
Yadav allegedly orchestrated the plot from abroad to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a leader of New York-based Sikhs for Justice, which has been advocating for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state, according to prosecutors.
Yadav recruited Gupta to carry out the assassination plot, according to court records; however, the hitman Gupta hired turned out to be an undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
On June 18, 2023, two days before Modi was scheduled to visit the United States, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar -- an associate of Pannun -- outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada.
That incident has since ruptured diplomatic ties between India and Canada.
The day after Nijjar's murder, Gupta told the "hitman" that there was "now no need to wait" on killing Pannun.
"The Justice Department will be relentless in holding accountable any person -- regardless of their position or proximity to power -- who seeks to harm and silence American citizens," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement following the charges Thursday.
"As alleged, last year, we foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav, an Indian government employee, and his co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, to assassinate an American citizen on U.S. soil," Garland said.
