An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to participating in a plot to assassinate a Sikh activist in New York, in a case that American prosecutors say exposed an international murder-for-hire conspiracy.
According to the United States Department of Justice, 54-year-old Nikhil Gupta admitted acting at the direction of an individual linked to India’s intelligence apparatus in an attempt to arrange the killing of US-based Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
In a statement detailing the court proceedings, the Justice Department said Gupta hired a hitman to carry out the assassination and pleaded guilty to three charges: murder-for-hire, conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.
Prosecutors told the court the accused believed he could organise a killing on American soil while operating from abroad. US law enforcement agencies, however, tracked the operation and moved to dismantle what they described as a serious transnational threat.
Court documents also referenced the June 2023 killing of Sikh figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Both Nijjar and the intended New York target were identified by prosecutors as critics of the Indian government. According to the prosecution, after Nijjar’s death, Gupta informed a covert contact that Nijjar had also been a target and suggested there was no reason to delay another attack.
Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, and later extradited to the United States to face trial.
Each of the murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison, while the money laundering conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years. Sentencing will be determined by the court at a later date.
The investigation involved the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and international partners. The Justice Department said another suspect named in the indictment remains at large.
US Attorney General Jay Clayton said the case served as a warning that foreign-directed acts of violence would be aggressively prosecuted in the United States.
