In a landmark development for international justice and diplomatic relations, Nikhil Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court on Friday, February 13, 2026, to orchestrating a failed assassination plot against a U.S. citizen. The plea provides what activists call “judicial confirmation” of an state-sponsored murder-for-hire scheme directed by an officer of India’s premier foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Indian man pleads guilty to plotting to kill Sikh separatist in New York https://t.co/a0tCWjyzbP
— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) February 14, 2026
The Conspiracy Unveiled
Gupta admitted to three federal charges: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the plot targeted Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent Sikh activist and American lawyer.
The indictment explicitly links the plot to Vikash Yadav, identified as a “Senior Field Officer” in the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India (RAW’s housing unit). While Gupta faces up to 40 years in prison at his May 29 sentencing, Yadav remains at large, subject to an FBI federal arrest warrant.
🚨BREAKING – SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT
Nikhil Gupta – the key operative charged in the brazen murder-for-hire conspiracy targeting Sikh leader & SFJ General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun – has PLEADED GUILTY in federal court.
This explosive case, directly tied by U.S. prosecutors… pic.twitter.com/p3Rql8jkR0
— Sguardian (@LegitimateTargt) February 13, 2026
State-Sponsored “Transnational Repression”
U.S. law enforcement officials have characterized the case as a textbook example of transnational repression—where a foreign government stalks and targets individuals on foreign soil to silence dissent.
“He thought that from outside this country he could kill someone in it without consequence, simply for exercising their American right to free speech,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He was wrong.”
The case is not an isolated incident. It mirrors the June 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, a crime for which the Canadian government has also alleged direct links to Indian government agents. During the conspiracy, Gupta was recorded telling an undercover agent that Nijjar “was also the target” and that “we have so many targets.”
Strategic Analysis: India as an Emerging “Exporter of Terrorism”
The guilty plea significantly undermines New Delhi’s long-standing “rogue agent” defense. Critics and international observers argue that the depth of the evidence—including $15,000 in advance payments and the provision of the victim’s private surveillance data by an active-duty officer—points to a systemic policy of extraterritorial liquidations.
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The pattern suggests a strategic shift where RAW is operating similarly to the intelligence agencies of other states accused of global assassinations. By leveraging criminal networks (Gupta admitted to being a narcotics and weapons trafficker) to carry out political killings, India is increasingly viewed by international analysts as a state engaging in the very “export of terrorism” and “hybrid warfare” it frequently accuses its neighbors of fostering.
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