Prominent Sikh separatist says FBI has warned him of new threat on his life

NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent Sikh separatist said Tuesday that the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have warned him that he faces a new credible threat to his life even as a man from India faces sentencing later this year for a 2023 death plot against him.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for Sikhs For Justice, said he was warned by FBI agents who visited him Aug. 12 that he should not travel until the threat is resolved, and, if he does, the agency should be notified in advance of his plans.

He said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police warned him by telephone on Tuesday, though neither law enforcement agency gave any details about the plot that was uncovered. Messages seeking comment from both law enforcement agencies were not immediately returned.

Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, said he was warned according to the terms of a “Duty to Warn” law in the United States that obligates U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to notify individuals when they discover credible and specific threats of murder, severe bodily harm or kidnapping.

The new threat comes as Nikhil Gupta, a man from India who pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in February, awaits a Nov. 20 sentencing in Manhattan federal court for plotting in 2023 with others to assassinate Pannun.

The FBI has said Gupta was directed by an Indian government employee to carry out the killing. When Gupta tried, he unwittingly communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hitman. Federal sentencing guidelines call for Gupta to spend at least two decades in prison.

Pannun, who advocates for the creation of the sovereign Sikh state and is considered a terrorist by the Indian government, said in a phone interview Tuesday that he was “unfazed and undaunted” by the attempts to silence him.

“I’m not afraid of their death threats,” he said, though he added that he hoped that the administrations of President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would confront Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over threats to U.S. and Canadian sovereignty.

“The Modi government is proceeding under the Trump administration without fear of any consequences,” he said.

Pannun has described himself as a Sikh human rights lawyer who is campaigning to turn Punjab into a place where “all religions will have equal rights.”

He said “Duty to Warn” advisories were issued by Canadian law enforcement officials to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the ex-head of the Canadian chapter of the Khalistan Referendum, in the weeks before he was assassinated on June 18, 2023 in Surrey, British Columbia.

Pannun said the continued threats give him courage and confidence that his campaign and outspokenness is working.

“I’m going to continue, even at the cost of a bullet,” he said.

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This story has been corrected to show FBI agents visited Pannun Aug. 12, not last Thursday.