"An Indian national has admitted in a United States court that he took part in a 2023 scheme to hire a hitman to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York, federal prosecutors said. Nikhil Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty on Friday over his alleged role in attempting to make contact with a hitman to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist who holds dual US and Canadian citizenship."
"In court, Gupta told Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn that while in India in 2023, he transferred $15,000 online to someone he believed would carry out the assassination. The individual that Gupta contacted was, in fact, a confidential source working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said Pannun became a target of transnational repression solely for exercising their freedom of speech."
"Gupta, who was detained at Prague airport in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the US, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the US attorney's office for the southern district of New York said in a statement. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Gupta could face between 20 and 24 years in prison. A plea agreement calls for him to serve at least two decades. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29."
Nikhil Gupta admitted to attempting to hire a hitman in 2023 to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering. Gupta transferred $15,000 online to someone he believed would carry out the assassination; that person was a DEA confidential source. Gupta was detained in Prague in June 2023 and extradited to the United States. Federal sentencing guidelines place his potential prison term between 20 and 24 years, and a plea agreement requires at least two decades. US and Canadian authorities link the plot to a broader campaign targeting Indian dissidents abroad.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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