Indian National Pleads Guilty in Sikh Plot Case

Nikhil Gupta, a 54-year-old Indian national, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court on Friday to charges of murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder for hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, admitting his role in a foiled plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent Sikh separatist leader and U.S. citizen living in New York.

The plea marks the first conviction in what U.S. prosecutors describe as an international scheme targeting Sikh dissidents abroad. Gupta entered his admission before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, changing his earlier not guilty plea from June 2024. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan outlined how the plot began in May 2023, when Gupta was recruited by Vikash Yadav, an Indian government employee in the Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees the country's foreign intelligence service. Yadav, who remains at large in India and faces similar charges, directed Gupta to arrange Pannun's killing, according to court documents.

Gupta, who had prior involvement in narcotics and weapons trafficking, contacted an associate for help hiring a hit man. Unbeknownst to him, that associate was a federal informant who...