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  "path": "/news/1973164/indian-national-pleads-guilty-in-plot-to-kill-sikh-leader-in-us",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-14T05:22:21.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "World",
    "Nikhil Gupta",
    "Vikash Yadav"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON: An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to plotting the assassination of Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, the US Justice Department said on Friday.\n\nProsecutors said Nikhil Gupta, 54, admitted to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the failed plot.\n\nHe entered the plea on February 13 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29.\n\nAccording to the Justice Department, Gupta acted at the direction of an Indian government employee identified as Vikash Yadav, who was employed by India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees the country’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Yadav remains at large.\n\nFormer Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav who has been charged by the US for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist and Indian critic in New York City, at an unknown location, in this undated handout image released on October 17. — Reuters/File\n\nThe department said that in May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to arrange the killing of Pannun, a US citizen and lawyer who advocates for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.\n\nGupta contacted a person he believed to be a criminal associate, who was in fact working with US law enforcement. That individual introduced him to an undercover officer posing as a hitman.\n\nProsecutors said the conspirators agreed on a $100,000 payment for the killing, and about $15,000 was paid in advance. The plot was disrupted before any attack took place.\n\nIn a statement, US Attorney Jay Clayton said Gupta believed he could target someone in the United States “simply for exercising their American right to free speech,” but would now face justice.\n\nAn FBI official described the case as an example of “transnational repression”.\n\nThe case comes amid wider tensions between India and Western governments over alleged threats against Sikh separatists abroad.\n\nCanada has separately accused India of involvement in the 2023 killing of another Sikh leader outside a temple in British Columbia — allegations New Delhi has denied.\n\nGupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and later extradited to the United States.",
  "title": "Indian national pleads guilty in plot to kill Sikh leader in US"
}