How US surveillance of Indian ‘field officer’ exposed Pannun assassination plot

Three federal agencies of the US government kept an Indian ‘senior field officer’ named as CC-1 (co-conspirator-1?) earlier attached to the CRPF, and drug trafficker Nikhil Gupta alias ‘Nick’ under surveillance for two months during May and June this year.

The surveillance took the lid off what the US alleges was an Indian government initiative to assassinate Khalistan activist and attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen, in the United States. It also led to the arrest of Nick Gupta on 30 June by police in Czechoslovakia at the request of the US agencies, and the filing of a case in a New York court.

While the court filings come as a diplomatic embarrassment for India, the stunning details of how an Indian government employee, presumably an ‘Intelligence’ operative, was placed under surveillance for months have left officials in New Delhi red-faced.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday maintained a brave face and told media that the allegation was a matter of concern, and that ‘this is also contrary to government policy’. “The nexus between organised crime, trafficking, gunrunning and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for the law enforcement agencies and organisations to consider and it is for that reason that a high-level inquiry committee has been constituted and we will be guided by its results," he said at a media briefing.

CC-1 has to be a fairly highly-placed official to have committed a sum of Rs 1.25 crore ($150,000) to a hitman for assassinating the Khalistan separatist leader of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice forum in the US, and an advance payment of Rs 12 lakh. Will he be named (US agencies have identified his phone number, his Internet access, and his past) and made a scapegoat, or will Nikhil Gupta be the only fall guy?

The US court filings also claimed that there were criminal cases lodged in Gujarat against Nikhil Gupta, but CC-1 spoke to the ‘boss’ and took care of it. What was the case against Gupta and who in Gujarat Police made the deal, and at whose behest, are details which are yet to come to light.

In a breathtaking message to the undercover agent and hitman, Gupta said there were more jobs — bigger jobs — awaiting them… there were four jobs in the US and three in Canada… 2-3 jobs every month, claimed US agencies in the court filings that surfaced on Wednesday, 29 November.

In another sensational message, CC-1 communicated to Gupta that the payment could be higher depending on the ‘quality of the work’ and how speedily it is executed.

The court filings appear to contain a still photograph from a video showing the exchange of cash, the advance payment, in the car of the US undercover agent in New York. While the image shows some currency notes and two pairs of hands at the point of exchange, it is possible that the purpose is to produce the currency in court during the trial as evidence.

Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June at the request of US authorities, according to the indictment, and charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.

Murder for hire is a crime out of a movie, but the plot in this case was all too real. The excellent teamwork of the law enforcement partners in this case exposed this brazen conspiracy and is why Nikhil Gupta finds himself in jail waiting to answer to these charges:

• An Indian government employee (“CC-1”), working together with others, including GUPTA, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on U.S. soil an attorney and political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City (the “Victim”).

• CC-1 is an Indian government agency employee who has variously described himself as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence,” and who also has referenced previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force

• GUPTA is an Indian national who resides in India, is an associate of CC-1, and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1 and others

• In or about May 2023, CC-1 recruited GUPTA to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States… GUPTA contacted an individual whom GUPTA believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source working with the DEA (the “CS”), for assistance in contracting a hitman to murder the victim in New York City.

• The CS introduced GUPTA to a purported hitman, who was in fact a DEA undercover officer (the “UC”). CC-1 subsequently agreed in dealings brokered by GUPTA to pay the UC $100,000 to murder the victim. On or about June 9, 2023, CC-1 and GUPTA arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the UC as an advance payment for the murder. CC-1’s associate then delivered the $15,000 to the UC in Manhattan.

• Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June at the request of US authorities, according to the indictment, and charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.

• GUPTA, 52, of India, has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.