US prosecutors claim that an Indian diplomat planned to kill a Sikh separatist leader in New York
As they unveiled charges against a man they claimed was involved in the foiled murder attempt, U.S. authorities said on Wednesday that an Indian government official oversaw a plot to kill a well-known Sikh separatist leader who lived in New York City. The conspiracy to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who supported the establishment of an independent Sikh state and is regarded as a terrorist by the Indian government, was made known to U.S. authorities last spring. The conspirators enlisted the help of an international drug trafficker in their scheme to kill the activist for $100,000, but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration intervened and organized a sting operation using an undercover agent dressed as a hitman.
