Nikhil Gupta pleads guilty in the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

Who: Nikhil Gupta, a 54-year-old Indian national, and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the US citizen and Sikhs for Justice general counsel whom the plot targeted. Prosecutors say Vikash Yadav, a former Indian government official, directed Gupta. The case is before the Southern District of New York, with Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn taking the plea and District Judge Victor Marrero set to sentence.

What: On February 13, 2026, Gupta pleaded guilty to all three counts of the Second Superseding Indictment: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The maximum terms are 10, 10 and 20 years. The district court accepted the plea days later, finding it knowing and voluntary. US officials said he acted at the direction and coordination of an Indian government employee. Prosecutors allege Yadav recruited him in May 2023 and agreed a payment of $100,000, with $15,000 handed over in New York on June 9, 2023, and that the hired killer was in fact an FBI informant. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023 and extradited on June 14, 2024. Sentencing was first set for May 29, 2026, then moved to September 25, and then to November 20, 2026, after prosecutors said Pannun wished to take part and would be abroad on the earlier date. The guideline range is reported as 20 to 24 years.

Where: A federal court in Manhattan, New York City.

Why it mattered: The plea ended the prospect of a trial and put on the court record, from the US side, that an Indian official was behind a murder plot on American soil. India's government denied any association with the plot. In a January 2025 interview Gupta had denied knowing Yadav and said he was being pressured to plead. Yadav remains in India. A US arrest warrant has been out for him since October 2024, he is on an FBI wanted list and under an Interpol Red Notice, and India has said he is no longer a government employee. Prosecutors also allege that messages among Yadav, Gupta and the hired man link the plot to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey. The allegations against Yadav have not been tested at trial.