write title and 18 words meta for this article ”An Indian national has pleaded guilty in the United States to orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot aimed at assassinating a US citizen and Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York City, in a case that has drawn intense diplomatic attention.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
The US Department of Justice said Nikhil Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty on Thursday to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Gupta entered the plea before a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29, 2026. He faces a maximum potential sentence of 40 years in prison, though the final sentence will be determined by the court.
According to US prosecutors, Gupta worked at the direction of an Indian government employee to arrange the killing of a US citizen of Indian origin who is an attorney and political activist based in New York. While US court documents refer to the individual as “the victim,” the target of the alleged plot is widely understood to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent figure in the Sikh separatist movement and designated as a terrorist in India.
Indian authorities have designated Pannun as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), India’s primary anti-terror law. His organization has been banned in India, and he is accused by New Delhi of advocating violence and secessionism through calls for the creation of a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.
US prosecutors allege that in 2023 Gupta was recruited by Vikash Yadav, who was described in court filings as an employee of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the country’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing. At Yadav’s direction, Gupta allegedly sought to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination on US soil.
Unbeknownst to Gupta, the individuals he contacted were working with US law enforcement. Authorities say he negotiated a $100,000 payment for the killing, arranged a $15,000 cash advance, and passed along detailed personal information about the intended target, including home address, phone numbers and daily routines. The plot was ultimately thwarted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Justice Department said Gupta also told an undercover officer to delay the killing to avoid coinciding with the Indian Prime Minister’s state visit to the United States in June 2023. After the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada later that month, Gupta allegedly indicated there was “now no need to wait,” according to court documents.
Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the United States in 2024.
The case has wider diplomatic implications. In November 2023, India set up a high-level internal panel to examine US allegations related to the plot. At the time, New Delhi said it took the accusations seriously while also rejecting claims of state-sponsored wrongdoing.
The Indian government’s reaction to Gupta’s guilty plea and the latest developments in the case is awaited.
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