Inside Indian national’s alleged role in Pannun murder plot
‘$100,000 for the killing’
According to the DOJ, in or about May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination in the United States.
“At Yadav’s direction”, Gupta contacted an individual he believed to be a criminal associate for assistance in hiring a hitman to kill the victim (Pannun) in New York City. The individual was, in fact, a confidential source (CS) working with the DEA. The CS introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was actually a DEA undercover officer (UC), it added.
Authorities say Yadav subsequnetly agreed, in dealings brokered by Gupta, to pay the UC $100,000 to murder the victim and arranged a $15,000 cash in advance on or about June 9, 2023.
In June 2023, Yadav also provided further personal information about the victim — including the Victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the Victim, and details about the Victim’s day-to-day conduct — which Gupta forwarded to the UC, along with surveillance photographs, the court records showed.
Gupta also instructed that the killing be carried out as soon as possible, but told the UC not to act around the time of the Indian prime minister’s official state visit to the United States.
‘We have so many targets’
On June 18, 2023, approximately two days before the Indian prime minister’s state visit to the United States, masked gunmen shot dead Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Nijjar was an associate of the victim and, like him, a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and a critic of the Indian government.
The following day, Gupta told the undercover officer that Nijjar “was also the target” and that “we have so many targets.” He added that there was “now no need to wait” to kill the victim, according to court documents.
Notably, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, and later extradited to the United States.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said, “Nikhil Gupta plotted to assassinate a US citizen in New York City. He thought that from outside this country he could kill someone in it without consequence, simply for exercising their American right to free speech. But he was wrong, and he will face justice. Our message to all nefarious foreign actors should be clear: steer clear of the United States and our people.”
“It is often a slippery and dangerous slope from drug trafficking to deadly violence, as demonstrated by the murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by international narcotics and weapons trafficker Nikhil Gupta,” said Terrance Cole, administrator of the DEA.
Notably, India has designated Pannun as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and has banned the Sikhs for Justice outfit.
The Indian government has also dissociated itself from any plot against Pannun, saying such actions would be against government policy and describing the case as a “rogue operation.”
The Ministry of External Affairs has strongly dismissed the allegations, calling them “unwarranted” and “unsubstantiated.”
