FBI, RCMP warn Sikh separatist Pannun of fresh threat after 2023 plot

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the advocacy group Sikhs For Justice, said on Tuesday that he has been warned by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) about a new and credible threat to his life. In a phone interview, Pannun said FBI agents visited him on August 20 and advised him not to travel until the threat was resolved. If travel was unavoidable, he was asked to inform the agency in advance of his plans. The RCMP issued a similar warning by telephone on August 25, he said. Neither law enforcement agency provided specific details about the nature of the threat, Pannun said.

Pannun, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenship, said the warnings were issued under the "Duty to Warn" law in the United States. This law obligates US intelligence and law enforcement agencies to notify individuals when they uncover credible and specific threats of murder, severe bodily harm, or kidnapping. The mechanism is designed to give potential targets the opportunity to take protective measures. As of the time of writing, neither the FBI nor the RCMP had responded to requests for comment on the warnings.

The latest warning comes as Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, awaits sentencing on November 20 in Manhattan federal court. Gupta pleaded guilty in February to federal conspiracy charges in connection with a 2023 plot to kill Pannun. According to the FBI, Gupta was directed by an employee of the Indian government to carry out the killing. When Gupta attempted to execute the plot, he unwittingly communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer who was posing as a hitman. Federal sentencing guidelines call for Gupta to spend at least two decades in prison for the offence.

Pannun, who advocates for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state and is considered a terrorist by the Indian government, said he remains undeterred by the threats. "I'm not afraid of their death threats," he said. He added that he hopes the administrations of US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will confront Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over what he described as threats to US and Canadian sovereignty. "The Modi government is proceeding under the Trump administration without fear of any consequences," Pannun said.

Pannun described himself as a Sikh human rights lawyer campaigning to make Punjab a place where "all religions will have equal rights." Punjab is a Sikh-majority state in northern India, and the Khalistan movement, which Pannun supports, seeks to create an independent Sikh homeland. He also noted that Canadian officials had issued similar "Duty to Warn" advisories to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the former head of the Canadian chapter of the Khalistan Referendum, in the weeks before Nijjar was assassinated on June 18, 2023, in Surrey, British Columbia.

The repeated threats, Pannun said, give him confidence that his campaign is having an impact. "I'm going to continue, even at the cost of a bullet," he said.