US foiled plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, warned India: Report

The US thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns that it was involved in the plot, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday citing sources.  

Pannun is a leader of the US-based Sikhs for Justice, which has been designated as a terrorist outfit by India. An American and Canadian citizen, Pannun has been trying to revive the movement for an independent 'Khalistan'. 

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FT said that people familiar with the case did not say whether the protest to New Delhi led the plotters to abandon their plan, or whether the FBI intervened and foiled a scheme already in motion.

According to the report, the US informed some allies about the plot following the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist killed in Vancouver in June.

In September, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were "credible allegations" that pointed to the role of Indian agents in Nijjar's killing.

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New Delhi rejected the claim and sought for evidence. FT reported that the US had protested after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a high-profile state visit to Washington in June.

Besides the diplomatic warning, US federal prosecutors have filed a sealed indictment against at least one alleged perpetrator of the plot in a New York district court, the report said.

The US Justice Department is debating whether to unseal the indictment and make the allegations public or wait until Canada finishes its investigation into Nijjar's murder, it said, adding that one person charged in the indictment is believed to have left the US.