Indian national Nikhil Gupta pleads guilty in US court in plot targeting Pannun

Indian national Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty on Friday to charges linked to a plot to assassinate pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed.

Gupta, 54, appeared before a federal court in Manhattan and admitted to paying $15,000 to a person he believed to be a contract killer to murder Pannun in mid-2023. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

“Nikhil Gupta plotted to assassinate a US citizen in New York City,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said. “He thought that from outside this country he could kill someone in it without consequence, simply for exercising their American right to free speech. But he was wrong, and he will face justice.”

Gupta pleaded guilty to three counts — murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering — carrying a combined maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero on May 29.

Gupta has been held without bail in Brooklyn since his extradition from the Czech Republic in June 2024.

According to US prosecutors, Gupta was recruited in May 2023 by an individual identified in the indictment as Vikash Yadav, described as a “Senior Field Officer” involved in security and intelligence functions. American authorities allege Yadav was connected to the Indian government at the time of the conspiracy. India has denied that such actions align with official policy.

The US Justice Department formally indicted Yadav in October 2024. He remains at large in India but has been named in an unrelated extortion case by the Delhi Police.

Following Yadav’s indictment, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the individual named in the US charges was “no longer an employee of the Government of India.”

Prosecutors said Gupta, acting on Yadav’s instructions, sought out a hitman through a contact who turned out to be a confidential US source. He was then directed to an undercover officer posing as a contract killer. Gupta agreed to pay $100,000 for the killing and transferred $15,000 as an advance, according to court filings.

US authorities have also cited communications linking the Pannun plot to the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, though the cases remain legally distinct.

In response to the allegations, the Indian government said it took US inputs seriously and established a high-level enquiry committee in November 2023. In January 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that the panel had submitted its findings and recommended legal action against an individual whose prior criminal links were identified during the investigation.