WASHINGTON: An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to plotting the assassination of Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, the US Justice Department said on Friday.

Prosecutors said Nikhil Gupta, 54, admitted to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the failed plot.

He entered the plea on February 13 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29.

According to the Justice Department, Gupta acted at the direction of an Indian government employee identified as Vikash Yadav, who was employed by India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees the country’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Yadav remains at large.

The department said that in May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to arrange the killing of Pannun, a US citizen and lawyer who advocates for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.

Gupta contacted a person he believed to be a criminal associate, who was in fact working with US law enforcement. That individual introduced him to an undercover officer posing as a hitman.

Prosecutors said the conspirators agreed on a $100,000 payment for the killing, and about $15,000 was paid in advance. The plot was disrupted before any attack took place.

In a statement, US Attorney Jay Clayton said Gupta believed he could target someone in the United States “simply for exercising their American right to free speech,” but would now face justice.

An FBI official described the case as an example of “transnational repression”.

The case comes amid wider tensions between India and Western governments over alleged threats against Sikh separatists abroad.

Canada has separately accused India of involvement in the 2023 killing of another Sikh leader outside a temple in British Columbia — allegations New Delhi has denied.

Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and later extradited to the United States.