The US federal prosecutor who charged a former Indian intelligence officer with plotting to hire hitmen to kill a Khalistani leader is resigning.
On Monday, Federal Prosecutor Damian Williams said he would be quitting on December 13, well ahead of President-elect Donald Trump assuming the office.
Trump had already named his successor in anticipation of Williams resigning or being fired.
In one of his first announcements of Justice Department appointees, Trump said he planned to nominate Jay Clayton, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to be the District Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Last month, Williams filed the case against Vikash Yadav, a former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer who allegedly hatched the plot to hire a hitman to kill Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Williams has brought a case against Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, last year along with him as a co-conspirator in the case. He was arrested from the Czech Republic in June and was extradited to the US and his case is going separately at the Southern District of New York court.
Gupta denies guilt in court and his next hearing was rescheduled to January 19.
It will be up to the next Attorney General and Clayton how to proceed with the case.
Trump has named Pam Bondi to be his Attorney General, but she will need the Senate's approval for the job.
Meanwhile, announcing his decision to quit, Damian said: "Today is a bittersweet day for me as I announce my resignation as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job…It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the office is functioning at an incredibly high level."
The office announced Damian's deputy, Edward Kim, will be acting as the prosecutor.
