Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who pleaded guilty in the United States to his role in a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, had told an undercover agent of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that Hardeep Singh Nijjar “was also a target” just a day after he was killed by unknown gunmen in Canada.Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18, 2023. He was earlier designated a terrorist by the Indian Government for his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.Citing court documents, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said on or about June 19, 2023 — the day after Nijjar’s killing — Gupta told the undercover DEA officer that Nijjar “was also a target” and added, “We have so many targets”. The DoJ said Nijjar was an associate of Pannun, the chief of the banned organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).The statement described “victim” Pannun as a vocal critic of the Indian Government who leads a US-based organisation that advocates the secession of Punjab. “The victim has publicly called for some or all of Punjab to secede from India and establish a Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan,” the statement read.According to US prosecutors, Gupta had earlier instructed the undercover officer to avoid carrying out Pannun’s assassination around the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington in June 2023.However, following Nijjar’s killing, which occurred just two days before the PM’s visit, Gupta allegedly indicated that there was no longer a need to delay the planned attack.The DoJ has alleged that Gupta acted in concert with others in India and elsewhere, including co-accused Vikash Yadav, described in the indictment as an employee of the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the country’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.At Yadav’s direction, prosecutors claim, Gupta approached an individual he believed to be a criminal associate to arrange a contract killing in New York City. The individual was in fact a confidential source working with the DEA, who introduced Gupta to a purported hitman — actually an undercover DEA officer.The US authorities have alleged that Yadav agreed, through Gupta, to pay $1,00,000 for the assassination and that $15,000 was delivered in cash in June 2023 as an advance. Investigators further contend that personal details of the intended target, including home address, phone numbers and daily movements, were shared and passed on to the undercover officer, along with periodic updates and surveillance photographs.Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, and later extradited to the US, where he has since entered a guilty plea in the case.