Terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murder plot: Accused Nikhil Gupta pleads guilty in US court

NEW DELHI: Nikhil Gupta, an Indian man accused of murder plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has pled guilty in a US court.Nikhil Gupta (54) pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering before a Manhattan court, news agency Reuters reported. The charges together carry a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison, officials said. Gupta, who has been lodged in a Brooklyn jail since his extradition to the United States in June last year, entered the plea before US magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. He had earlier pleaded not guilty after being extradited from the Czech Republic, where he was arrested in 2023. Gupta is accused of hiring a hitman for $100,000 to assassinate Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, allegedly at the behest of an Indian government official identified by US authorities as Vikash Yadav. The plot collapsed after the purported hitman turned out to be an undercover federal agent.According to the US Department of Justice, Yadav allegedly roped in Gupta in May 2023 to coordinate the plan to kill Pannun in New York. The government also constituted a high-level committee in November 2023 to examine the US allegations. In January last year, just days before Donald Trump assumed office, the panel submitted its report recommending legal action against the official concerned, without naming him. The report said the individual's "earlier criminal links and antecedents" had also surfaced during the enquiry.