Pannun Assassination Plot: Accused Nikhil Gupta Pleads Guilty, Faces Decades In Prison

A United States court has accepted a guilty plea from Nikhil Gupta regarding a murder-for-hire and conspiracy plot aimed at Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The case raises international implications involving the United States, India and Canada and is linked to broader concerns about Sikh separatist networks abroad and ongoing diplomatic tensions.

Accused Nikhil Gupta has pleaded guilty in a United States court to a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The plea links Gupta to an alleged plan to assassinate Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, which had already drawn diplomatic concern.

According to the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan, Gupta, 54, admitted guilt on charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Reuters reported that the case centres on an alleged contract killing scheme directed at Pannun, who is designated as a terrorist in India.

Nikhil Gupta and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun case background

Court records show that Gupta had earlier entered a not guilty plea in a US federal court in June 2024. Investigators stated that the plot was disrupted before any attack on Pannun occurred, leading to Gupta's arrest in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and later extradition to the United States.

Pannun lives in the United States and holds both US and Canadian citizenship, while being listed as a terrorist by Indian authorities. The alleged conspiracy has strained India's relations with both Washington and Ottawa, as the case added to existing disputes over the activities of Sikh separatist leaders based overseas.

Nikhil Gupta and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun alleged conspiracy links

US prosecutors argued that Gupta cooperated with an Indian government official to identify Sikh separatist figures abroad. Allegations also tied this network to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar by masked attackers outside a Sikh temple in Western Canada in June 2023, although Indian officials publicly rejected involvement in such actions.

New Delhi has stated that the alleged plot runs against official policy, distancing the government from the accusations. US filings claim Gupta arranged for a hired assassin to kill Pannun on instructions from Vikash Yadav, described as an officer with India's external intelligence agency and also charged. Gupta remains in US custody without bail and faces a possible prison term of several decades, while Yadav is still in India, with officials citing “'Plot' to kill Pannun” as central to the investigation, with inputs from agencies.