An unprecedented flood of details about an alleged conspiracy linked to the Indian government to carry out multiple assassinations in North America was revealed today, Wednesday, in a U.S. criminal indictment.

Perhaps the most startling allegation in the New York state indictment for contract killing against Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta is the claim of plans to carry out three such murders on Canadian soil.

The indictment, published today, accuses Gupta of attempting this year to arrange a killing in New York after receiving instructions from an Indian government official.

While the charges include an alleged plot in New York City, U.S. prosecutors claim the matter is connected to a case that strained Canada-India relations.

In a related development, the Indian government announced on Wednesday that it will conduct a high-level investigation into the allegations in the indictment.

The indictment states that an unnamed Indian government official offered $100,000 in contract with a Sikh separatist in New York and asked Gupta, 52, to arrange it.

As part of the deal, Gupta allegedly received a service, and the indictment, which describes Gupta as a drug and arms smuggler, says the alleged Indian official promised to conceal a criminal case against him.

The indictment states that Gupta then contacted a person he believed to be a professional killer, unaware that he was an undercover agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"Take him out, brother, take him out, don’t take too long," Gupta allegedly said to a person involved in the conspiracy — an informant in the DEA who introduced him to the undercover agent.

The indictment points out that Gupta asked the potential killer around June to carry out the assassination as soon as possible—but not at a politically sensitive moment.

The indictment alleges Gupta said he did not want the killing to happen near a high-level political meeting between the U.S. and India. This period coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in June 2023.

But things changed on June 18, when masked gunmen killed Harpreet Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that an Indian government official said the killing accelerated the timeline for the New York assassination - "It’s a priority now," he supposedly texted; Gupta is alleged to have sent a video of Nijjar’s corpse to his supposed contracted killer and asked him to "do it quickly."

The indictment says Gupta told a police informant in a voice call that they had "four jobs" to complete before June 29—one in New York and "three in Canada."

CBC News reported that Canadian authorities gathered human intelligence and signals intelligence—including communications related to Indian officials—before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped the shocking allegation in the House of Commons in September that the Indian government was connected to Nijjar’s killing.

This allegation sparked a diplomatic dispute with India.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that U.S. officials filed a criminal indictment and foiled a similar plot against Gurbajwant Singh Bannon, an American and Canadian citizen.

Bannon’s name was not mentioned in the indictment revealed on Wednesday, but the facts of the case match the Financial Times reports.

Gupta was arrested around June 30 in the Czech Republic at the request of the United States. He faces two counts of contract killing.

Canadian Foreign Minister was asked today, Wednesday, why U.S. authorities succeeded in thwarting the alleged assassination plot, while Canada did not.

Melanie Joly said she would not comment on a U.S. criminal case but added that she expects more from India, which expelled dozens of Canadian diplomats.

Joly said from Brussels, where she was attending a NATO meeting, "It is clear we expect more cooperation from their side. And more engagement from their side."