Who Is Nikhil Gupta, Indian Man Who Plotted Khalistani Terrorist's Murder

In a major case announced by US authorities, 54-year-old Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, has pleaded guilty to plotting the murder of a US citizen in New York City. Gupta admitted to all charges against him, which include murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

His actions were part of a planned assassination of a US citizen and Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York City

In November 2023, officials from the US Justice Department announced charges against Gupta. He had been arrested earlier, in June 2023, in the Czech Republic and later extradited to New York to face prosecution.

The officials confirmed that Nikhil Gupta, also known as "Nick," had pleaded guilty before the US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. He is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero on May 29.

Gupta's Role And His Links In India

Gupta is a citizen of India and lived there before his arrest. He described himself as an international dealer in narcotics and weapons. A key figure connected to him was Vikash Yadav, a co-defendant. Yadav was employed by the Government of India's Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing.

According to the United States Attorney's Office, in May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to help plan the assassination in the United States. Following Yadav's direction, Gupta contacted someone he believed was a criminal associate. However, the person turned out to be a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential source (CS).

The confidential source introduced Gupta to a supposed hitman, who was actually a DEA undercover officer (UC). Yadav eventually agreed, in dealings brokered by Gupta, to pay $100,000 to the undercover officer to carry out the killing.

On June 9, 2023, Yadav and Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the undercover officer as an advance payment

Yadav also provided Gupta with Pannun's home address, phone numbers, and information about Pannun's daily routine.

Gupta passed this information to the undercover officer and regularly updated Yadav on the plan, even sending surveillance photos of Pannun.

The United States Attorney's Office also said that Gupta had instructed the undercover officer not to carry out the killing around the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the United States, which was scheduled for June 20, 2023.

The Nijjar Murder 

On June 18, 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader and associate of Pannun, was killed by masked gunmen outside a Sikh temple in Canada. The next day, Gupta told the undercover officer that Nijjar "was also the target." He added that "we have so many targets." He said that because Nijjar had been killed, there was "now no need to wait" to kill the victim in New York, the United States Attorney's Office said in a press release.

Arrest And Charges

On June 30, 2023, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and later extradited to the United States. He pleaded guilty to Murder-for-hire (maximum 10 years in prison), Conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire (maximum 10 years), and Conspiracy to commit money laundering (maximum 20 years). This means Gupta faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison.