NEW YORK — An Indian man pleaded guilty on Friday to orchestrating a failed assassination plot against a Sikh separatist in New York, part of a broader pattern of attacks against Sikhs across the world.

Prosecutors had said that the man, Nikhil Gupta, had been hired to carry out the plot by an official inside the Indian government. The government has rejected that accusation.

Gupta, who appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Friday, pleaded guilty to all three charges against him. The U.S. government recommended a prison sentence of about 21 to 24 years, half of the 40 he faced.

The target of the plot, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer at a New York-based group called Sikhs for Justice, is an American citizen and a proponent of independence for the northern Indian state of Punjab.

Gupta, a resident of India who was extradited to the United States in 2024 to face trial, faced charges of murder for hire and two conspiracy counts.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Benjamin Weiser, Kate Christobek and Colin Moynihan/Sarah Blesener
c. 2026 The New York Times Company