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‘Key participant’: What US said on Nikhil Gupta's role in failed Pannun murder plot
Nikhil Gupta has pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The US federal court on Friday termed Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, as a ‘key participant’ in a murder-for-hire plot in the foiled assassination attempt against Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in 2023.
"Nikhil Gupta was a key participant in a murder-for-hire plot against a U.S. citizen, a murder that was prevented thanks to the actions of U.S. law enforcement,” FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said.
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Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the US in June 2024. Since then, he has been in custody of US authorities in Brooklyn without bail.
“This case is a stark reminder of the ruthless lengths criminals will go to in order to further their illegal enterprises," Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Administrator Terrance Cole said.
Gupta has pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering on Friday and could face upto 40 years in jail. However, the quantum of punishment will be announced after the hearing on May 29.
Nikhil Gupta's link the Pannun assassination plot
Gupta is accused on charges of orchestrating a plot to murder Pannun, an India-designated terrorist with dual citizenship of the US and Canada.
The US Attorney's Office has alleged that Gupta plotted to get Pannun murdered at the directions of the India government, an allegation that India has denied in the past saying such things are against its policies.
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“At the direction and coordination of an Indian government employee, Nikhil Gupta plotted to assassinate a United States citizen on American soil, facilitating a foreign adversary’s unlawful effort to silence a vocal critic of the Indian government,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr said.
In 2023, Gupta, according to the US Attorney's Office, was linked to another Indian citizen named Vikash Yadav, who at that time was an employee with the Indian government.
“Yadav was employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing,” the statement further read.
Plot to kill Pannun
It said that in May 2023, Yadav ‘recruited’ Gupta to plot the assassination of Pannun, though the statement does not directly name Pannun but refers to him indirectly as ‘victim’, ‘US citizen’ and ‘associate ’ of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader who was murdered outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June 2023.
Gupta hired a purported hitman who was in fact an undercover US law enforcement officer, according to the US Attorney's Office. Gupta was introduced to the alleged hitman by a person who he believed to be a criminal associate, but was a confidential source working with the US law enforcement agencies.
“In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, Yadav provided Gupta with personal information about the victim, including the victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the victim, and details about the victim’s day-to-day conduct,” it said, adding that Gupta passed on these inputs to the alleged hitman.
“Gupta thereafter provided Yadav with regular updates on the assassination plot, including surveillance photographs of the victim. Gupta directed the UC to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but Gupta also specifically instructed the UC not to commit the murder around the time of the Indian Prime Minister’s official state visit to the United States, which was scheduled to begin on or about June 20, 2023,” US Attorney's Office said.
The US Justice Department said Yadav has been charged in the Second Superseding Indictment but not arrested yet.
