Significant developments have emerged in the case involving a failed plot to assassinate Sikh leader and US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, based in the United States. On Friday, 54-year-old Indian national Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in a federal court in New York. Gupta was accused of devising a criminal plan in 2023 to target the Sikh activist residing in New York, a plot that ultimately did not materialize.
According to global news agency Bloomberg, Gupta admitted guilt on three separate charges directly related to the conspiracy to assassinate Pannun. Pannun is known as an active supporter of the movement for an independent Sikh state in the northern Indian province of Punjab, and the Indian government has repeatedly expressed serious concerns regarding his activities.
Court proceedings revealed that Gupta was part of a conspiracy aimed at targeting a political opponent on foreign soil. Following his guilty plea, Gupta faces the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence. The case has also raised sensitive questions for India–US diplomatic relations, as the US prosecution previously indicated potential links between the plot and certain Indian officials.
