The Justice Department has announced the filing of charges against an Indian government employee for a murder-for-hire scheme and money laundering. Authorities say 39-year-old Vikash Yadav, who is also known as Vikaas and Amanat, was allegedly caught in a foiled plot to assassinate a United States citizen in New York City.

A second superseding indictment was unsealed today. Yadav’s co-conspirator, 53-year-old Nikhil Gupta, was previously charged and extradited to the United States on the charges laid forth in the first superseding indictment. Yadav remains at large.

FBI Director Christoper Wray said, “The defendant, an Indian government employee, allegedly conspired with a criminal associate and attempted to assassinate a U.S. citizen on American soil for exercising their First Amendment rights.”

The indictment and other public court documents explain that Yadav was working with others in India and elsewhere in 2023. He allegedly directed a plot to assassinate a United States citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City.

Authorities say the victim is a vocal critic of the Indian government and leads a US-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab. The victim reportedly called for some or all of Punjab to secede from India and establish a Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan.

Yadav was employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the country’s foreign intelligence service. Yadav reportedly described his position as a “senior field officer”. It is alleged that Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in or around May 2023.

Yadav allegedly provided Gupta with personal information about the victim, including the victim’s address, phone numbers, and day-to-day conduct. Gupta passed this information to a DEA undercover officer (the UC).

Approximately two days before the Indian Prime Minister’s state visit to the United States, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Authorities say Nijjar was an associate of the victim and also a leader of the Sikh separatist movement.

The day after the murder, Gupta allegedly told the UC that Nijjar “was also the target” and “we have so many targets”. Yadav and Gupta have been charged with Murder-for-Hire, Conspiracy to Commit Murder-for-Hire, and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.