The Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee who specialized in intelligence in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
Vikash Yadav, 39, faces murder-for-hire charges in a planned killing that prosecutors first disclosed last year and have said was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada.
Yadav remains at large, but in charging him and releasing his name, the Biden administration sought to call out the Indian government for criminal activity that has emerged as a significant point of tension between India and the West over the last year 鈥 culminating this week with a diplomatic flare-up with Canada and the expulsion of diplomats.
鈥淭he FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the U.S. for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,鈥 FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
The criminal case against Yadav was announced the same week as two members of an Indian inquiry committee investigating the plot were in Washington to meet with U.S. officials about the investigation.
"They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government,鈥 State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters before the case against Yadav was unsealed. 鈥淲e are satisfied with cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process.
On Monday, Canada said it had identified India鈥檚 top diplomat in the country as a person of interest in the assassination of a Sikh activist there and expelled him and five other diplomats.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and police officials went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said top Indian officials were then passing that information along to Indian organized crime groups who were targeting the activists, who are Canadian citizens, with drive-by shootings, extortions and even murder.
India, for its part, has rejected the accusations as absurd, and its foreign ministry said it was expelling Canada鈥檚 acting high commissioner and five other diplomats in response.
The murder-for-hire plot was first disclosed by federal prosecutors last year when they announced charges against a man, Nikhil Gupta, who was recruited by a then-unidentified Indian government employee to orchestrate the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in New York.
Gupta was extradited to the United States in June from the Czech Republic after his arrest in Prague last year.
The rewritten indictment said Yadav recruited Gupta in May 2023 to arrange the assassination. It said Gupta, an Indian citizen who lived in India, contacted an individual at Yadav鈥檚 direction, believing the individual to be a criminal associate. Instead, the indictment said, the individual was a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The indictment said Gupta asked the individual to help contract a hitman to carry out the murder, promising to pay $100,000. Of the $100,000 due for the attack, $15,000 was delivered by a Yadav associate to the DEA undercover source in Manhattan, according to the arrangements made by Yadav and Gupta, the indictment said.
Authorities said Yadav, a citizen and resident of India, directed the plot from India while he was employed by the government of India鈥檚 Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India鈥檚 foreign intelligence service. Yadav has described his position as a 鈥淪enior Field Officer鈥 with responsibilities in 鈥淪ecurity Management鈥 and 鈥淚ntelligence,鈥 the Justice Department said.
As the assassination plot was created in June 2023, Yadav gave Gupta personal information about the Sikh separatist leader, including his home address in New York City, his phone numbers and details about his day-to-day movements, which Gupta then passed along to the undercover DEA operative, according to court papers.
Yadav directed Gupta to keep him updated regularly on the progress of the assassination plot, leading Gupta to send him surveillance photographs of the intended victim, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who advocated for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state, the indictment said.
U.S. authorities have said the killing of Pannun was to have occurred just days after Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who had been exiled from India, was shot and killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. Prosecutors say the goal was to kill at least four people in Canada and the U.S. by June 29, 2023, and then more after that.
In a statement, Pannun said the indictment means the U.S. government has 鈥渞eassured its commitment to fundamental constitutional duty to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of the U.S. Citizen at home and abroad.鈥
He added, 鈥淭he attempt on my life on American Soil is the blatant case of India鈥檚 transnational terrorism which has become a challenge to America鈥檚 sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy, which unequivocally proves that India believes in using bullets while pro Khalistan Sikhs believe in ballots.鈥
Neumeister reported from New York.
In the first of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 puts a spotlight on how some of the clothes Canadians donate to charity end up in markets in Africa.
A Toronto woman said the cost of parking to visit her mother in hospital, and later in long term care, for 15 months was a financial burden she feels she shouldn鈥檛 have had to pay.
Ontario Provincial Police charged an impaired Vermont man who illegally crossed the border into Canada and thought he was still in the United States.
Tropical Storm Oscar chugged toward the Bahamas on Tuesday after making landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane, killing at least six people as it unleashed heavy rains on an island also hit by an unrelated massive power outage.
Some businesses paid a ransom of more than $500,000 after a cyberattack last year, new Statistics Canada data revealed.
French authorities were hunting Tuesday for a 17-day-old prematurely born baby boy who was abducted from the maternity ward of a Paris-region hospital, with his parents identified as the chief suspects.
The University Health Network is making masks mandatory as respiratory illness season ramps up.
A Quebec-based religion says Health Canada is dragging its feet on a decision whether to allow members to use magic mushrooms in their ceremonies.
麻豆影视 is projecting the New Brunswick Liberals will form a majority government in the province, returning to power for the first time since 2018. Leader Susan Holt will become the first female premier of the province.
In the first of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 puts a spotlight on how some of the clothes Canadians donate to charity end up in markets in Africa.
Police in western Newfoundland say a 77-year-old man visiting the province from Kansas is missing after a fire at a hotel in Deer Lake, N.L.
Daily life in Cuba has been largely affected since an outage led to a nationwide blackout in the country, followed by Tropical Storm Oscar hitting the country's east coast. If you're a Canadian stuck in Cuba through this ordeal, 麻豆影视 wants to hear from you.
Thousands of international students expected to study at three Ontario colleges are missing the fall semester, after Ottawa announced it would further tighten Canada's study permit system.
Victims are sharing the lasting impact of the 2023 triple stabbing at the University of Waterloo. The attacker, Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, previously pled guilty to four assault-related charges.
RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn't reveal any new information.
South Korea warned Tuesday it could consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea allegedly dispatching troops to Russia, as both North Korea and Russia denied the movements.
A woman who tried to retrieve her lost phone from between boulders in Australia鈥檚 Hunter Valley became stuck upside down for seven hours before she was rescued earlier this month.
German police busted a pizzeria in the western city of Dusseldorf that also delivered a side order of cocaine when customers asked for item number 40 on the menu.
King Charles III ends the first visit to Australia by a reigning British monarch in 13 years Tuesday with anti-monarchists hoping his journey is a step toward an Australian citizen becoming head of state.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. hopes to revive ceasefire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far all the warring parties appear to be digging in.
Law enforcement officials found five people killed in a shooting inside a home southeast of Seattle on Monday morning and took a teenager into custody, police said.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure to step aside, former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she is open to 'returning to politics' should the position of Liberal leader become available.
Liberal MP Sean Casey is the first to publicly confirm that he has signed a letter calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign, arguing it would be in the best interests of the country to let someone else take the reins.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun 鈥 a dual Canada-United States citizen and the target of an alleged assassination attempt in New York City last year 鈥 says the expelled Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, is 'less of a diplomat, and more of a hypocrite.'
A U.S.-based food manufacturer that supplies frozen waffles to major grocery chains across North America has launched a voluntary recall over concerns its products carry the potential for illness.
A Toronto woman said the cost of parking to visit her mother in hospital, and later in long term care, for 15 months was a financial burden she feels she shouldn鈥檛 have had to pay.
A Quebec-based religion says Health Canada is dragging its feet on a decision whether to allow members to use magic mushrooms in their ceremonies.
In the fight against cyber attackers, they reason AI can help just as much as it harms.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.
A Newfoundland scientist known for identifying a gelatinous, rancid mass that washed up on the island's shores decades ago is hoping to get his hands on a slice of the strange white globs appearing on the province's beaches.
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia, NBC News reported on Monday, citing sources.
Seven new lawsuits have been filed against Sean 鈥楧iddy鈥 Combs, including one alleging the rape of a 13-year-old girl. They come as his lawyers tried again Monday to get him freed on bail, and complained that a 鈥渇resh wave of publicity鈥 is endangering his right to a fair criminal trial.
Jennifer Lawrence will soon be a mom of two. The Oscar-winning actress is pregnant with her second child, a representative for Lawrence told Vogue on Sunday.
Some businesses paid a ransom of more than $500,000 after a cyberattack last year, new Statistics Canada data revealed.
Nearly six months after its opening, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is boosting Canada's energy sector as promised 鈥 but questions still linger about who will pay for the project's massive cost overruns.
A Waterloo, Ont. tech company says it鈥檚 been removed from the U.S. Department of Commerce鈥檚 entity list, after previously supplying technology allegedly used for mass surveillance and censorship.
A manufacturer in Saskatchewan is looking to set a new record by building the world's longest trampoline.
Summer might be the most popular season for tourism to Europe, but it hardly promises a calm, cool and collected experience.
A Saskatoon man is taking his love of card games to new depths 鈥 six feet under, to be exact.
Tua Tagovailoa does not want to be the face of traumatic brain injuries in the NFL, but he knows that's the reality confronting him after his latest concussion.
A parliamentary committee will not question the coaches of the national women's soccer team about the Paris Olympics cheating scandal, after Liberal and Bloc Qu茅b茅cois MPs voted against launching a study today.
If LeBron James Sr. and his son, Bronny, make NBA history Tuesday night by playing in the same game for the Los Angeles Lakers, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. will be there to witness it.
An increased risk of fire has prompted the recall of thousands of Honda hybrid vehicles in Canada.
The U.S. government's road safety agency is investigating Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian.
Canada鈥檚 border guards have seized more than 1,900 stolen cars so far this year at railyards and ports, which is over a hundred more than in 2023.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.
A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.
A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥
John Cantin vividly remembers opening day for his Victoria diner. Stress levels were high, tables were full, and one of the most popular menu items couldn鈥檛 be freed from the unyielding grip of the waffle maker.
A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.
A B.C. judge has issued a decision in a years-long dispute between neighbours that began with a noise complaint over barking dogs, crowing roosters and quacking ducks 鈥 awarding $15,000 in damages to the plaintiffs in the case.
A wave rolled through Surrey on Saturday, nearly painting the town blue, as B.C. Conservatives are leading or elected in seven of the ten provincial ridings in the city.
Vancouver firefighters have contained what they describe as a multi-unit, multi-floor blaze at a high-rise in the city's West End
Mounties on Vancouver Island say one person is dead and another is presumed to have drowned after two vehicles were found submerged in a river following heavy rains that washed out roadways across British Columbia.
A Toronto woman said the cost of parking to visit her mother in hospital, and later in long term care, for 15 months was a financial burden she feels she shouldn鈥檛 have had to pay.
Thousands of international students expected to study at three Ontario colleges are missing the fall semester, after Ottawa announced it would further tighten Canada's study permit system.
Ontario's energy minister says he wants the province's electricity system to not just be able to meet an expected 75 per cent increase in demand, but to exceed it and be able to sell excess power to other jurisdictions.
A student advocacy group to prevent youth nicotine addiction says it wants the Alberta and federal governments to place a ban on all fruity and sweet vape juices.
Police now say a deadly shooting Friday evening in northeast Calgary is linked to organized crime. According to police, about a quarter of the year's total shootings are.
Three people were sent to hospital following a crash on Peigan Trail Monday morning.
The Ottawa Police Service has received hundreds of speeding tickets so far this year, as the city's photo radar cameras catch police cruisers in school zones and community safety zones.
A cat rescue southwest of Ottawa is under investigation after allegations of abuse, neglect and falsified medical records have surfaced.
Ontario Provincial Police charged an impaired Vermont man who illegally crossed the border into Canada and thought he was still in the United States.
The Jacques Cartier Bridge was closed to traffic in both directions on Tuesday morning due to the presence of demonstrators who climbed the structure.
The number of spaces in the childcare network in Quebec is decreasing, despite the commitment made by the Legault government in 2021.
Public libraries are popular with the public, but most Quebec municipalities are struggling to meet demand, while some have even cut back on book acquisitions.
A 31-year-old Edmonton man is facing 13 charges after running a red light and hitting another vehicle Sunday evening.
Edmonton city council is taking steps to allow more subsidized and supportive housing to be built on land it owns.
Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told media Monday after practice that although his team's usually potent power play has been sputtering badly to start the season, he's not ready 鈥 yet 鈥 to make changes to it.
麻豆影视 is projecting the New Brunswick Liberals will form a majority government in the province, returning to power for the first time since 2018. Leader Susan Holt will become the first female premier of the province.
For the first time in 14 years, Blaine Higgs does not have a seat in the New Brunswick legislature.
The investigation into the sudden death of a 19-year-old Walmart employee over the weekend is ongoing in Halifax.
Almost half of the Winnipeg鈥檚 construction projects are either done or substantially done, according to the city.
A community in southeastern Manitoba is asking for help as it鈥檚 trying to restore a historic church.
New data is revealing the good, the bad and the ugly of artificial intelligence in schools.
The NDP appears to have some momentum in Saskatchewan鈥檚 provincial election campaign with less than a week until votes are tallied.
The debate between Sask Party Leader Scott Moe and NDP Leader Carla Beck touched on many key issues of this year鈥檚 election. However, one issue not in the spotlight was Indigenous issues and the province鈥檚 relationship with First Nations.
A public inquest will be held in the case of Kristan Grant 鈥 who died while in the custody of Saskatchewan RCMP in 2021.
A 36-year-old Cambridge man was arrested on Monday after guns were stolen from a vehicle in Cambridge, according to Waterloo Regional Police.
Testimony continued Monday at the trial of Erick Buhr, who has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder of his grandmother, Viola Erb.
Victims are sharing the lasting impact of the 2023 triple stabbing at the University of Waterloo. The attacker, Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, previously pled guilty to four assault-related charges.
A Saskatoon man is taking his love of card games to new depths 鈥 six feet under, to be exact.
A Saskatoon LGBTQ+ advocate says if the Saskatchewan Party's proposed change room policy had been in place when he was a kid, he would not have survived high school.
The RCMP says a 32-year-old Saskatchewan woman has been charged with criminal negligence and impaired driving after causing a fatal collision in the wrong lane of Highway 11.
Sudbury's Matthew Klug who has been homeless for six months, says he was ordered by bylaw to tear down a structure he built beside his tent.
In the first of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 puts a spotlight on how some of the clothes Canadians donate to charity end up in markets in Africa.
After operating for 51 years, General Motors has announced it is closing the Kapuskasing Proving Ground, a facility the automaker used to test the durability of its vehicles in cold weather.
"Infestations have been proven to negatively impact one's mental health,鈥 proposals put forward to address bug infestations.
Police say that on Saturday, September 28, at around 3:00 p.m., a woman was in the women鈥檚 changeroom of the Canada Games Aquatics Centre on Wonderland Road.
Around 10 p.m. on Oct. 17, police said a teenaged girl met a man in the area of Clarke Road and Wavell Street. The two people struck up a conversation and walked together to the east side of a school in the area.
A 13-year-old was hit by a car crossing the street to get to his school bus.
An Orillia bank was robbed Monday afternoon.
Police charged a motorist after a vehicle crashed into a home in Innisfil Monday afternoon.
The Ontario Hockey League's player of the week and goaltender of the week are both from the Windsor Spitfires.
A Windsor city councillor wants city staff to come up with solutions to growing traffic congestion on local roads.
Essex Town Council has given tentative approval to a proposed housing development along Maidstone Avenue despite pushback from those living in the area.
Mounties on Vancouver Island say one person is dead and another is presumed to have drowned after two vehicles were found submerged in a river following heavy rains that washed out roadways across British Columbia.
A school in Victoria, B.C., went into lockdown Monday before police tasered and arrested a man in the library, according to authorities.
Two people have been arrested and one is still at large in the alleged murder of a woman on Vancouver Island whose 2023 overdose death police treated as suspicious.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
Lethbridge police are advising the public of officer training on Tuesday that will happen in two different venues throughout the day.
Calgary scored three times in the first, and three times in the third as the Hitmen defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-1 Saturday at the Saddledome.
The last students to graduate from Lethbridge College will make history this weekend as they cross the stage at fall convocation.
Rallies by a group called Voices Against Violence took place across the country on Monday, including Sault Ste. Marie.
An Indigenous group in northwestern Ontario shut down the highway for a couple of hours Monday morning in protest after ancestral remains were found at a construction site.
The owners of 73 vacant properties in the Sault have been fined for violations of the city's vacant properties bylaw, including 33 owned by a firm going through a high-profile insolvency process.
Police in western Newfoundland say a 77-year-old man visiting the province from Kansas is missing after a fire at a hotel in Deer Lake, N.L.
At 2 p.m. on Thursday, the scene at the Lions Club in Clarenville, N.L., rivalled any rowdy St. John's bar that thumps with music late on a weekend night.
A Newfoundland scientist known for identifying a gelatinous, rancid mass that washed up on the island's shores decades ago is hoping to get his hands on a slice of the strange white globs appearing on the province's beaches.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 麻豆影视. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.
