Indian national confesses involvement in plot against US Sikh community leader

A US national has pleaded guilty to participating in a 2023 scheme to hire a hitman to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York. Nikhil Gupta, 54, admitted to transferring $15,000 online to arrange the assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenship.

Pannun is affiliated with Sikhs for Justice, a group advocating for the secession of Punjab, a northern Indian state with a significant Sikh population. Gupta claimed he contacted an individual in India who would carry out the assassination, but it was later revealed that this person was actually a confidential source working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Gupta pleaded guilty to charges including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces between 20 and 24 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, with a plea agreement calling for him to serve at least two decades.

Prosecutors allege that Gupta worked with an Indian government employee who directed him to arrange the killing. However, Indian officials have denied involvement, stating that any such operation would be contrary to government policy.

The case has drawn attention from Sikh activists in the US and Canada, with about two dozen supporters attending a hearing and holding a prayer service outside the court. Pannun described himself as a human rights lawyer campaigning for equal rights in Punjab, and called on US authorities to pursue those in India who he says authorised the plot.

Pannun is designated as a “terrorist” by New Delhi, but maintains that he is not. He stated his intention to continue his activism despite potential consequences, saying “I’m ready to take India’s bullet rather than take a step back and live like a slave.”

Source: Al Jazeera