Terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun homicide plot: Accused Nikhil Gupta pleads responsible in US courtroom

NEW DELHI: Nikhil Gupta, an Indian man accused of homicide plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has pled responsible in a US courtroom.Nikhil Gupta (54) pleaded responsible on Friday to prices of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit cash laundering earlier than a Manhattan courtroom, information company Reuters reported. The costs collectively carry a most sentence of as much as 40 years in jail, officers stated.Gupta, who has been lodged in a Brooklyn jail since his extradition to the US in June final yr, entered the plea earlier than US Justice of the Peace Choose Sarah Netburn. He had earlier pleaded not responsible after being extradited from the Czech Republic, the place he was arrested in 2023. Gupta is accused of hiring a hitman for $100,000 to assassinate Pannun, a twin US-Canadian citizen, allegedly on the behest of an Indian authorities official recognized by US authorities as Vikash Yadav. The plot collapsed after the purported hitman turned out to be an undercover federal agent.Based on the US Division of Justice, Yadav allegedly roped in Gupta in Could 2023 to coordinate the plan to kill Pannun in New York. The federal government additionally constituted a high-level committee in November 2023 to look at the US allegations. In January final yr, simply days earlier than Donald Trump assumed workplace, the panel submitted its report recommending authorized motion towards the official involved, with out naming him. The report stated the person’s “earlier felony hyperlinks and antecedents” had additionally surfaced in the course of the enquiry.