An individual from India admitted guilt on Friday regarding U.S. criminal accusations of orchestrating an unsuccessful Indian government-backed scheme to eliminate a Sikh separatist in New York City. The case is linked to a broader initiative by U.S. and Canadian officials to target Indian dissidents.
Nikhil Gupta, aged 54, confessed to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Allegations from U.S. prosecutors suggest that Gupta collaborated with an Indian government official to plan the assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and lawyer at Sikhs for Justice in New York, known for advocating a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.
India’s government distanced itself from any involvement in the plot against Pannun, stating it contradicted government policy. The revelation of alleged assassination schemes against Sikh separatists in the U.S. and Canada has strained relations with India, which has denied participation in such activities.
In June 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was fatally shot in Surrey, B.C., leading to claims by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government was implicated. Nijjar’s murder was referenced in the Gupta case, linking Nijjar as an associate of the intended victim in the U.S. plot Gupta was attempting to organize.
Gupta made his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court. He admitted to arranging for the murder of an individual in the United States and paying $15,000 to someone in New York to carry out the crime, as disclosed in a transcript of his plea hearing.
Gupta has been in custody in Brooklyn, N.Y., since his extradition to the U.S. in June 2024 from the Czech Republic, where he was apprehended a year earlier. His sentencing is set for May 29, as per court records. Requests for comment from Gupta’s lawyers and the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., have not been answered.
Prosecutors indicated that an Indian government official, Vikash Yadav, recruited Gupta in May 2023 to plan Pannun’s assassination. Gupta disclosed to Yadav his involvement in international drug and weapon trafficking.
Court documents reveal that Yadav, working for India’s Cabinet Secretariat, arranged for Gupta to pay $100,000 US to an undercover officer posing as a hitman from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to carry out the assassination. An initial advance payment of $15,000 in cash was arranged for the murder.
Yadav is facing similar charges as Gupta but is not in U.S. custody, and it remains uncertain if he has retained legal representation. Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, condemned Gupta’s actions, emphasizing that plotting to kill a U.S. citizen in New York City for exercising free speech rights would not go unpunished.