What will happen to former R&AW officer Vikas Yadav after Nikhil Gupta’s confession in the NY court?
NEW DELHI : The guilty plea by Nikhil Gupta transforms the United States (US) case from a series of allegations into a judicially confirmed conspiracy to assassinate an American citizen on its own soil. The US District Court for Southern District New York (SDNY) release states that Gupta worked “at the direction of an Indian government employee”.
While Gupta has admitted guilt, Yadav remains a wanted fugitive in the eyes of the US justice system. He faces the same three counts as Gupta: Murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracy. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Yadav in October 2024 by the SDNY. He also remains on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) ‘Most Wanted’ list.Ooooo
Questions will be raised: Where is the Indian government agent who gave the contract for the murder? He will also be linked to the Nijjar murder case in Canada. Ranga-Billa has put India’s honor at stake! The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Friday that Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta has pleaded guilty. Nikhil Gupta is the same person charged in the 2023 murder plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. A statement issued by a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said that Gupta acted at the behest of an Indian government employee in plotting the murder. He will be sentenced on May 29, 2026. Nikhil Gupta has been held in a Brooklyn jail since being extradited to the US from the Czech Republic in June 2024.
The statement said, “Nikhil Gupta, also known as “Nick,” has pleaded guilty to all three counts of the Second Superseding Indictment, which charges him with murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder for hire, and money laundering in connection with the attempted murder of an American citizen in New York City.” Nik Gupta’s statement was recorded before US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. He is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero on May 29, 2026.
The Indian government has distanced itself from any conspiracy against Pannun, stating that it is against government policy. We do not orchestrate murders. The Indian government employee named by US officials was later identified as Vikas Yadav, who hired Gupta to plot the murder of American citizen Pannun. Vikas Yadav is at large, and a federal arrest warrant is issued against him.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle stated that Gupta acted “at the behest and coordination of Vikas Yadav, an Indian government employee.” Pannun, a lawyer for the New York-based group Sikhs for Justice, said in a statement that the confession proves that Narendra Modi’s Indian government plotted to assassinate him on American soil.
Following Nikhil Gupta’s confession, pro-separatist Sikh organizations in Canada have become active. In June 2023, another high-profile Sikh activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister at the time, stated months after the murder that there were “credible allegations” that agents of the Indian government had carried out the killing.
