Man Accused in Plot to Assassinate Sikh Separatist Pleads Not Guilty

An Indian man pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of orchestrating a failed assassination plot against a Sikh separatist in New York, a plan that prosecutors say he devised on behalf of an unnamed official in India’s government.

The defendant, Nikhil Gupta, was arrested in the Czech Republic a year ago, and was extradited last week to make his first appearance in Manhattan federal court. He is accused of trying to arrange the murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American citizen and lawyer for a New York-based Sikh secessionist group.

The murder attempt, which played out against a backdrop of doubt about India’s commitment to democracy, spanned several countries and mirrored the successful killing of another separatist in Canada, prosecutors say.

On Monday morning, Mr. Gupta entered the Lower Manhattan courtroom in a blue cardigan and yellow patterned shirt and appeared relaxed as he spoke to his lawyer, Jeffrey Chabrowe, at the defense table. He has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since landing in the United States on Friday afternoon.

In a statement to reporters after the arraignment, Mr. Chabrowe called the case a “complex matter” for India and the United States. “Background and details will develop that may cast government allegations into an entirely new light,” he said.

Mr. Gupta is charged with murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. If convicted, he would face a maximum of 10 years in prison for each charge. He was sent back to the detention center after Monday’s arraignment and is set to appear in court again on June 28.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has called the assassination attempt a “deadly and outrageous threat.” In an indictment unsealed in November, Manhattan federal prosecutors described an audacious plot that began around May 2023 when an Indian government employee enlisted Mr. Gupta to organize the killing of Mr. Pannun, who was living in New York at the time.

Mr. Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, an organization that supports the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India. He is a vocal critic of the Indian government and has been banned from the country, prosecutors say.

Mr. Gupta, who lived in India, had told the government official about “his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking,” according to the indictment.

At the direction of the Indian government employee, Mr. Gupta contacted a man who he believed would help him hire a hit man in New York, but who was, in fact, an agent for the American government. That agent introduced Mr. Gupta to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration officer who pretended to be the hit man.

In deals brokered by Mr. Gupta, the Indian government official agreed to pay the D.E.A. officer $100,000 to kill Mr. Pannun, including a $15,000 cash advance for the job, prosecutors said.

Mr. Gupta then shared personal information about Mr. Pannun with the undercover officer, including Mr. Pannun’s address in New York and his phone number. When the Indian official asked for updates, Mr. Gupta relayed surveillance photos of Mr. Pannun that the agent had sent him.

Mr. Gupta instructed the undercover officer to carry out the assassination as soon as possible, but asked him not to do it around the time of high-level meetings between U.S. and Indian officials, according to the indictment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington and met with President Biden in June 2023.

Then, prosecutors said, on June 18 of that year, gunmen killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist leader, in British Columbia, Canada. Mr. Nijjar knew Mr. Pannun and was also an outspoken critic of the Indian government.

Soon after, prosecutors said, Mr. Gupta told the undercover officer that Mr. Nijjar “was also the target” and that “we have so many targets.” Mr. Gupta then told the officer — the pretend hit man — that there was “now no need to wait” to kill Mr. Pannun, prosecutors said.

On Monday, Mr. Pannun, who was seated just a few rows behind Mr. Gupta in the courtroom gallery, said in a statement that he had “full faith” that the United States would hold Mr. Gupta and his co-conspirators accountable.

“The attempt on my life on American soil is the blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism challenging America’s sovereignty and unequivocally proves that Modi’s India believes in using violence to suppress the dissenting political opinion,” he said.

Mr. Gupta’s case has threatened to complicate the delicate relations among Washington, Ottawa and New Delhi. During his presidency, Mr. Biden has courted India’s leaders to counter the influence of Russia and China, despite growing concerns about India’s commitment to democracy.

Mr. Modi, who has been in office since 2014, was re-elected as India’s prime minister in June, even as his Bharatiya Janata Party lost its majority in Parliament.