Suspect Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in a US court on Friday to the failed plot to kill a Khalistani separatist leader. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. Gupta was charged with conspiring to kill Pannun at the behest of the Indian government and had previously pleaded guilty in a US federal court in June 2024.
File photo of Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. (Reuters)Also read: Rise of Tarek, fall of Jamaat, stalemate for Hasina: Key takeaways from Bangladesh’s elections
On Friday, Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the US attorney’s office in Manhattan said. Reuters Following a reported foiled assassination attempt, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the United States.
“Nikhil Gupta conspired to kill an American citizen in New York City. He thought that from outside this country, he could kill someone from outside this country to exercise America’s right to free speech. But he was wrong, and he will face justice. Our message to all nefarious foreign actors should be clear: Clearing the United States and our people against the United States and our people,” the Department said in a statement.
Also read: Raped, photographed, forced to convert: Shocking account of class 11 gang-rape in Bhopal
More Read
When US prosecutors accused Gupta of conspiring with Indian government officials to kill Pannun, New Delhi distanced itself from the plot, saying it was against government policy.
Pannun, an India-designated terrorist, is a US resident and dual US-Canadian citizen and the alleged assassination plot has previously strained India’s relations with the US and Canada.
Conspiracy to kill PannuProsecutors alleged that the accused Guptas worked with the Indian government to target Sikh separatist leaders abroad, including the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijar by masked gunmen outside a Sikh temple in western Canada. The US has claimed that Gupta hired an assassin to kill Pannun, on the orders of former agency official Vikas Yadbel. in case
More Read
Gupta has been held without bail since arriving in the US and has been in prison for decades, while Yadav remains in India.
“Nikhil Gupta was a key participant in a murder-for-hire plot against a U.S. citizen, an assassination that was prevented due to the actions of U.S. law enforcement agencies,” said FBI Assistant Director Roman Rojavsky.
“American citizens became targets of transnational repression simply for exercising their freedom of speech. The FBI’s message should be clear—if you try to harm our citizens, wherever you are, we will not stop until you are brought to justice,” Rojawski added.
with input from organizations
