US justice charges Indian for attempted murder of Sikh activist Erdogan: Netanyahu is “Butcher of Gaza” ++ Military operation in Jenin

The US Attorney’s Office has charged an Indian man with the attempted murder of an activist from India’s Sikh minority. According to authorities, the 52-year-old paid an undercover agent, whom he believed was a hit man, to kill a US citizen with Indian roots in New York. The suspect was arrested in the Czech Republic this summer and extradited to the United States. Before the attempted murder, he therefore had contact with an Indian government official, who, like the victim, was not mentioned by name.

Prosecutors say the case is linked to the murder of Canadian activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who worked with the victim of the attempted attack in New York. Canada had charged an Indian agent with the targeted killing of Nijjar. In June this year, masked men shot him dead outside a Sikh temple near Vancouver. Connections between the two countries subsequently dropped to a low point.

The victim of the New York conspiracy, who suffered no harm, and Nijjar were members not only of the Sikh religious community, but also of the so-called Khalistan movement, which advocates an independent country on the territory of India. The leadership in New Delhi therefore regards them as terrorists. In recent months, the United States has been courting India as a partner in geopolitical competition with China. President Joe Biden had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, for a pompous state visit to Washington. (sda/dpa)