Indian national Nikhil “Nick” Gupta pled guilty to plotting to assassinate US-based pro-Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. US prosecutors have accused him of partaking in the plot after being recruited by an “Indian Government employee,” as per the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.

Issuing a press release on Friday, Feb 13 (US time), the Department of Justice (DOJ) stated, “Nikhil Gupta Worked at the Direction of an Indian Government Employee to Arrange the Murder of U.S.-Based Leader of Sikh Separatist Movement” in New York.

Charges against Indian man Nikhil Gupta

54-year-old Gupta has pled guilty to all three count contained in the Second Superseding indictment, charging him with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in connection with claims that the attempted to murder a US citizen in new York.

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The news came after Nikhil Gupta’s US court appearance before Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. He is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero on May 29, 2026.

The murder-for-hire charge against Gupta carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison as well. Meanwhile, conspiracy to commit money laundering has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The Indian national was originally arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023. He was ultimately extradited to the US.

Nikhil Gupta’s link to Pannun murder plot?

“Nikhil Gupta plotted to assassinate a US citizen in New York City, said US Attorney Jay Clayton, as per the DOJ press release. “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.  Our message to all nefarious foreign actors should be clear: steer clear of the United States and our people.”

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US Attorney’s Office accuses Gupta of working with others in India and elsewhere to plot the assassination of Pannun, who is of Indian origin, on US soil. As per the cited Second Superseding Indictment, Gupta allegedly worked in connection with co-defendant Vikash Yadav, who has been described as an Indian government employee.

“GUPTA is a citizen and was a resident of India, and he has described himself as an international narcotics and weapons trafficker in electronic communications with YADAV and others,” the US Attorney’s Office stated.

As per the US Justice Department, Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination in the US. Gupta is then said to have reached out to a person whom he believed to be a criminal associate, but was actually a confidential source working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

This particular individual listed as the “CS” by US authorities then introduced Nikhil Gupta to an alleged hitman, who was actually a DEA undercover office (listed as “UC”). After the dealings brokered by Gupta, Yadav is believed to have agreed to have paid the UC $100,000 to murder Pannun.

The co-defendants are said to have arranged for an associate to deliver deliver $15,000 in cash to the UC as an advance payment in June 2023. That same month, Yadav gave Gupta personal information about the US citizen, including his home address in New York City, phone number and other day-to-day details about his routine.

After passing the same onto the UC, as per the DOJ, Gupta directed the person to carry out the plot as soon as possible. “GUPTA also specifically instructed the UC not to commit the murder around the time of the Indian Prime Minister’s official state visit to the United States, which was scheduled to begin on or about June 20, 2023,” stated the DOJ.

About two days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, masked gunmen killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an associate of Pannu and a leader of the pro-Khalistani movement, outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada.

The day after the murder, Gupta is believed to have told the UC the Nijjar was yet another target among “many” others. As per the US authorities, Gupta also asserted that there was no need to put off Pannun’s killing in light of Nijjar’s murder.

DEA’s official press release on Nikhil Gupta caseDownload

What Indian govt maintains about Nikhil Gupta

In 2024, as Gupta pled “not guilty” to the charges in connection with Pannun’s murder plot, that Gupta hadn’t asked for consular help as he was extradited to the US.

“We have so far not received any request for consular access from Mr. Gupta, but his family has got in touch with us, and we are in touch with the family members, and we are looking at the matter, as to what can be done,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated at the time.

The government had previously denied claims that targeting Khalistani separatists on foreign soil is “Indian policy.” But as an Indian official was named as a co-defendant in the case, India’s leadership announced a “high-level” enquiry panel into the charges raised but the US side.

India has repeatedly denied similar charges alleged by Canada in the killing of Nijjar in June 2023, dismissing even US’ allegations as “unwarranted and unsubstantiated.”

India’s reaction to govt employee claims

When an indictment filed by the DOJ was unsealed in November 2023, the accused Indian government employee was referred to as “CC-1.” Subsequently, the MEA confirmed that the person named in the official documents was no longer employed by the government.

Read the US vs Nikhil Gupta Superseding IndictmentDownload