Indian man admits to being part of a plot to kill a Sikh leader in New York

— An Indian citizen has admitted in a US federal court to being part of a failed plan to kill a Sikh leader in New York. American and Canadian officials think this case is part of a larger attempt to go after Sikh dissidents living abroad, according to the New York Times.

Nikhil Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire and other related offenses in federal court in Manhattan. The most he may get is 40 years in prison, and his sentencing is set for May 29. Prosecutors allege Gupta helped set up an attempt to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen and lawyer who is connected to Sikhs for Justice, a group that wants to create an independent Sikh state in India’s Punjab area. The Indian government has said that it has nothing to do with the supposed scheme.

The indictment says that Vikash Yadav, who US authorities say is an officer associated to India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which supervises the country’s foreign intelligence branch, hired Gupta in May 2023. Yadav is said to have told Gupta to set up Pannun’s death in New York. Later, he sent Gupta encrypted messages naming a “target in New York.”

Prosecutors claim that Gupta then called an individual he thought could help him hire a hitman. That person was actually a US government informant who set Gupta up with an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was pretending to be a hit guy. Court papers say that Gupta talked about the details, timing, and payment for the assassination and gave $15,000 as a down payment. At one instance, he is said to have recommended tricking Pannun into going to a dangerous place by pretending to need legal help.

In June 2023, the lawsuit began as President Joe Biden was getting ready to visit Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state dinner at the White House. This was meant to boost US-India ties in the face of geopolitical competition from China and Russia. Officials in the US say there is no proof that Modi knew about the supposed plot.

After the state banquet in the Czech Republic, Gupta was arrested and sent back to the US in 2024. Yadav is also wanted in Manhattan federal court for murder-for-hire and conspiracy, but he is still on the run.

The case has made diplomatic tensions worse. Justin Trudeau, who used to be the Prime Minister of Canada, said that India was involved in the murder of Sikh preacher Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a temple in British Columbia in 2023. India denied the claim, and the disagreement led to the expulsion of diplomats and a dramatic drop in relations.

Gupta said in court that he had agreed in the spring of 2023 to help plan the assassination of someone in the US. After the hearing, his lawyer, David Touger, didn’t want to say anything.