An individual from India has admitted guilt on Friday to criminal charges in the U.S. for orchestrating an unsuccessful assassination plot against a Sikh separatist in New York City, reportedly part of a broader scheme targeting Indian dissidents, as per U.S. and Canadian authorities. Nikhil Gupta, aged 54, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Allegations from U.S. prosecutors claim that Gupta conspired with an Indian government official to plan the murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and attorney at Sikhs for Justice in New York, known for advocating a sovereign Sikh state in northern India. The Indian government distanced itself from any involvement in the plot against Pannun, asserting it was against official policy.
The revelation of alleged assassination schemes against Sikh separatists in the U.S. and Canada has strained relations with India, which has denied any association with such activities. In a separate incident in June 2023, the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., was linked in the Gupta case, with Nijjar identified as an associate of the intended victim in the U.S. assassination plan that Gupta was allegedly arranging.
Gupta made his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court, admitting to agreeing with another party to have an individual murdered in the United States and paying $15,000 to someone in New York to carry out the crime. Gupta has been detained in Brooklyn, N.Y., since his extradition from the Czech Republic in June 2024. His sentencing is set for May 29, as per court records.
According to prosecutors, an Indian government official named Vikash Yadav recruited Gupta in May 2023 to organize Pannun’s assassination, with Gupta disclosing his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking to Yadav. Court documents revealed that Yadav arranged for Gupta to pay $100,000 US to an alleged hitman, who was actually an undercover officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, to eliminate Pannun. Gupta and Yadav arranged for an initial $15,000 cash payment to be delivered to the undercover officer as an advance for the murder.
Yadav, who was employed by India’s Cabinet Secretariat housing the Research and Analysis Wing, faces the same criminal charges as Gupta but is not in U.S. custody. The U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, Jay Clayton, condemned Gupta’s actions, stating that Gupta aimed to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City, wrongly believing he could carry out the crime without repercussions for the victim’s exercise of free speech rights.