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US files charges against Indian Government employee in failed assassination attempt case
Vikash Yadav, employed by India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the country’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly orchestrated the plot from India.
The Office of Public Affairs is the principal point of contact for the Department of Justice with the news media. / US Department of Justice
The US Department of Justice has announced charges against Vikash Yadav, a 39-year-old Indian government employee, in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen in New York City.
Yadav, also known as Vikas and Amanat, is accused of directing a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a leader of the Sikh separatist movement in the United States. The charges were revealed in a second superseding indictment unsealed today in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Yadav remains at large, while his alleged co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, was previously extradited to the US and faces similar charges.
“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,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. He pointed out that last year’s foiled assassination attempt by Yadav and Gupta demonstrated the US government's commitment to protecting the rights of its citizens from foreign threats.
FBI Director Christopher Wray reiterated the agency's stance against violence targeting individuals for exercising their constitutionally protected rights. “The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the US for exercising their rights,” Wray said.
The victim of the plot, an attorney and political activist of Indian origin, resides in New York City and leads a US-based organization advocating for the secession of Punjab from India. The victim is a vocal critic of the Indian government and has called for the establishment of a sovereign Sikh state, Khalistan. The Indian government has banned both the victim and the separatist organization from India.
Yadav, employed by India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the country’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly orchestrated the plot from India. In May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to hire a hitman to assassinate the victim. Gupta, also residing in India, reached out to a confidential source working with the DEA for help in contracting the hitman. Unbeknownst to Gupta, the purported hitman was a DEA undercover officer.
The plot came to a head in June 2023 when Yadav agreed to pay $100,000 to the undercover officer for the murder. A down payment of $15,000 was delivered in Manhattan as part of the arrangement. Yadav also provided Gupta with detailed personal information about the victim, including their home address and phone numbers. Surveillance photographs of the victim were forwarded to Yadav, and Gupta pushed for the murder to be carried out as soon as possible, avoiding the Indian Prime Minister’s official state visit to the US.
As details emerged, the plot’s timeline coincided with the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader and associate of the victim, in Canada. Following Nijjar’s death, Gupta informed the undercover officer that there was “now no need to wait” on the killing of the New York-based target.
Yadav and Gupta are charged with multiple crimes, including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.
The case is being investigated by the DEA New York Division, the FBI New York Field Office, and several international law enforcement agencies. US Attorney Damian Williams highlighted the seriousness of the charges, warning that attempts to harm US citizens for exercising free speech would not go unpunished.
“This case should be a warning to all those who would seek to harm and silence US citizens: we will hold you accountable, no matter who and where you are,” Williams said.
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