Indian national Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty on Friday for his role in a failed plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The 54-year-old accused pleaded guilty on three counts - murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering before a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan. According to FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky, Nikhil Gupta was a "key participant" in the plot against Pannun, a murder that was prevented by the US law enforcement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29, 2026 and could face a maximum potential sentence of 40 years in prison.In a post on X, the FBI said, "Following an investigation by FBI New York, and US Attorney SDNY, Nikhil Gupta pled guilty to plotting
to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City.""... NIKHIL GUPTA, a/k/a "Nick," an Indian national, pled guilty to all three counts 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 his efforts to murder a U.S. citizen in New York City. GUPTA pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn and is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero on May 29, 2026," a statement by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said.
Who is Nikhil Gupta?
Nikhil Gupta, also known as "Nick," is a Delhi-based businessman. Gupta describes himself as an "international narcotics and weapons trafficker in electronic communications," according to the release issued by the US Attorney’s Office. He had been arrested earlier, in June 2023, in the Czech Republic and later extradited to New York to face prosecution. In November 2023, officials from the US Justice Department announced charges against Gupta.Prosecutors alleged that Gupta was recruited by in May 2023 by one Vikash Yadav, and the pair met in Delhi to discuss the potential assassination of Pannun. The indictment alleged that at Yadav's orders, Gupta contacted a man to hire someone to carry out the killing in New York. The man introduced Gupta to a second person who presented himself as a hitman but who was actually an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration officer, prosecutors said. They alleged that Yadav gave Gupta information about the murder target, including his home address in New York and his phone numbers, which Gupta then fed to to the purported hitman. They claim Yadav was an Indian government employee.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has consistently dismissed allegations regarding India's involvement in the assassination plot, calling the allegations “unwarranted and unsubstantiated”, but assuring cooperation in the investigation. In November last year, New Delhi set up a high-level inquiry committee to address security concerns raised by the US.
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