- Friday, June 06, 2025
Bhushan Athale had called the main number of a Sikh organization in New Jersey and left numerous threatening voice messages
By: India Weekly
A 49-YEAR-OLD Indian-American from Texas was sentenced to 26 months in prison for threatening to kill and injure employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization located in New Jersey.
The accused, Bhushan Athale, had previously pleaded guilty in Camden federal court for threatening to use a dangerous weapon and one count of transmitting an interstate threat to injure another person.
According to documents filed in this case, Athale had on September 17, 2022, made a call to the main number of the Sikh organization and left numerous threatening voice messages over several hours.
He threatened to injure or kill these individuals with a razor and other very specific acts of violence.
On March 21, 2024, Athale again called the same organization and left two more voicemails. He used violent and sexual imagery to express his hatred toward Sikhs as well as Muslims.
Following these message, the FBI had launched a probe and nabbed Athale.
The found that he has a lengthy history of using such language and was in 2021 removed from and organization for threatening a Muslim co-worker.
Athale grew up in Nanded, Maharashtra and moved to the US to pursue his MS degree in computer science.
He has been working as an IT consultant for some private companies and a few public enterprises in different parts of the US, the Quint reports.
In addition to a 26-month prison sentence, Judge Edward S. Kiel sentenced him to three years of supervized release.
The judge also prohibited him from contacting any individuals targeted by his actions.
Assistant attorney general Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division thanked US attorney Alina Habba and her team for bringing Athale to justice.
