An Indian national, Nikhil Gupta,54, charged with being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil, has pleaded guilty to the charges.
Apart from murder-for-hire, Gupta has pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with his efforts to murder Pannun in New York. Pannun holds dual American and Canadian citizenship.
According to a statement issued by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, Gupta pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Scheduled to be sentenced on May 29
Gupta, who pleaded guilty before US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29. According to the allegations contained in the indictment, other public court documents, and statements made in court, Gupta worked together with others in India and elsewhere, including, with co-defendant Vikash Yada,v to plot Pannun’s assassination on US soil.
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Acting as per Yadav’s direction, Gupta contacted an individual whom he believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration for assistance in contracting a hitman to murder Pannun in New York City.
A $100,000 offer
Yadav subsequently agreed, in dealings brokered by Gupta, to pay the undercover officer $100,000 to murder the victim.
On or about June 9, 2023, Yadav and Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver USD 15,000 in cash to the undercover officer as an advance payment for the murder.
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According to an NDTV report, the US Department of Justice stated that Gupta instructed an undercover law enforcement officer to postpone the planned assassination so that it would not overlap with the Indian Prime Minister’s official state visit to the United States in June 2023.
Following the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada later that month, Gupta allegedly conveyed that there was “now no need to wait,” according to court filings.
The backdrop
Gupta was taken into custody in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and was subsequently extradited to the US in 2024.
In November 2023, India constituted a high-level internal committee to review the allegations raised by US authorities in connection with the alleged plot.
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At the time, New Delhi said it regarded the accusations with seriousness while denying assertions of any state-sponsored involvement.
The response of the Indian government to Gupta’s guilty plea and the recent developments in the case is awaited.
(With agency inputs)
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