Man Pleads Guilty in Hitman Plot Against Sikh

OTTAWA: (Web Desk) – A man allegedly recruited by Indian intelligence has pleaded guilty to attempting to hire a hitman to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-Canadian citizen and activist, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Pannun is associated with Sikhs for Justice, which campaigns for the secession of Punjab, home to a large Sikh population.

Nikhil Gupta, who entered his plea in a Manhattan court, allegedly contacted someone he thought could provide a hitman. In reality, that individual was a confidential source working with the US DEA.

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Gupta pleaded guilty to all three counts against him, including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering related to the attempted killing of a US citizen. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29.

Prosecutors allege that Vikash Yadav, employed by India’s Cabinet Secretariat and affiliated with RAW, recruited Gupta in May 2023. The plot is believed to have been approved by India’s former top spy, Samant Goel.

Canada has separately accused India of plotting the 2023 murder of another Sikh separatist on Canadian soil, prompting high-level condemnation from its government.

FBI assistant director Roman Rozhavsky said Pannun became a target “solely for exercising their freedom of speech.” Gupta was detained in Prague in June 2023 on a US warrant and extradited to the United States.

India has denied involvement in these plots and pledged to investigate the allegations.