An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a United States federal court to participating in a 2023 plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York City, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
The defendant, 54-year-old Nikhil Gupta, admitted in the Southern District of New York to several charges including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering.
Prosecutors said Gupta conspired to hire a hitman to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American Sikh activist and lawyer who leads the U.S. branch of the Sikhs for Justice group and advocates for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Gupta was recruited in May 2023 by an Indian government employee identified as Vikash Yadav, linked to India’s Cabinet Secretariat and foreign intelligence service. Authorities allege Yadav directed Gupta to arrange the killing, and the plot involved a planned payment of $100,000 to a supposed hitman, approximately $15,000 of which was paid in advance.
The hitman never existed: Gupta was introduced to an undercover agent working with U.S. law enforcement. Prosecutors said the conspiracy was disrupted before any attack occurred.
Gupta was extradited from the Czech Republic in 2024 and has remained in U.S. custody. He faces a potential prison term of 20 to 24 years, with sentencing scheduled for 29 May 2026.
The case has drawn diplomatic and legal attention, with U.S. officials warning foreign actors against plotting violence on U.S. soil and stressing the protection of free speech and national sovereignty. Gupta’s guilty plea underscores concerns about transnational plots targeting political activists, particularly dissidents linked to the Khalistan movement, a cause the Indian government officially designates as extremist.