NYT report exposes India-linked transnational assassination plot against Sikh activist

NEW YORK: A report by the New York Times has revealed that an Indian national has pleaded guilty in a United States federal court to orchestrating a failed assassination attempt against a Sikh activist in New York, shedding further light on a broader pattern of transnational repression targeting Sikh dissidents.

The intended target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. citizen and a prominent advocate for Sikh self-determination in Punjab. Pannun is associated with Sikhs for Justice, a New York–based organization campaigning internationally on the Sikh right to self-determination.

Nikhil Gupta admitted to arranging the plot to murder Pannum at the behest of an alleged official linked to the Indian government—an allegation New Delhi has denied, the report said.

Gupta, who entered his plea to murder for hire and other charges in federal court in Manhattan, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29. He could face up to 40 years in prison under U.S. federal sentencing guidelines.

The indictment against Gupta, the report said, outlined a brazen scheme in which he was recruited in May 2023 by an Indian government official, Vikash Yadav, to arrange the killing of Pannun.

US prosecutors have argued that the case mirrors similar covert operations allegedly directed against Sikh activists abroad, including the killing of a Sikh figure in Canada, intensifying concerns over India’s alleged use of extraterritorial violence to silence political dissent. Notably, in June 2023, Khalistan movement leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada. Ottawa has said that the killing was carried out at the behest of the Indian government and says it has shared credible evidence with New Delhi in this regard.

Officials in the United States and Canada have said that the Indian government has engaged in a global campaign to silence Sikh activists, creating diplomatic tensions.

“Our message to all nefarious foreign actors should be clear: Steer clear of the United States and our people,” Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.