An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to participating in a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh leader in New York, a case American and Canadian officials say is connected to broader efforts to target Sikh dissidents overseas, reports New York Times.
Nikhil Gupta, 54, admitted to murder-for-hire and related conspiracy charges in Manhattan federal court. He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29. Prosecutors say Gupta helped arrange an attempt to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen and attorney affiliated with Sikhs for Justice, which advocates for the creation of an independent Sikh state in India’s Punjab region. The Indian government has denied any role in the alleged plot.
According to the indictment, Gupta was recruited in May 2023 by Vikash Yadav, described by US prosecutors as an official linked to India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees the country’s foreign intelligence service. Yadav allegedly instructed Gupta to arrange Pannun’s killing in New York and later sent him encrypted messages identifying a “target in New York.”
Prosecutors say Gupta then contacted a man he believed could help hire a contract killer. That individual turned out to be a US government informant, who introduced Gupta to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent posing as a hit man. Court documents state that Gupta discussed the logistics, timing and payment for the murder, and paid $15,000 as an advance. At one point, he allegedly suggested luring Pannun to a vulnerable location by pretending to seek legal advice.
The case unfolded in June 2023, as President Joe Biden was preparing to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state dinner at the White House, an event aimed at strengthening US-India ties amid strategic competition with China and Russia. US officials have said there is no evidence that Modi was aware of the alleged plot.
Gupta was arrested shortly after the state dinner in the Czech Republic and extradited to the United States in 2024. Yadav has also been charged in Manhattan federal court with murder-for-hire and conspiracy but remains at large.
The case has intensified diplomatic strains. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously accused India of involvement in the 2023 killing of Sikh cleric Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a temple in British Columbia. India rejected the allegation, and the dispute led to expulsions of diplomats and a sharp downturn in relations.
Speaking briefly in court, Gupta acknowledged that he had agreed in spring 2023 to help arrange the murder of a person in the United States. His attorney, David Touger, declined to comment after the hearing.
