NEW YORK: Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national who pleaded guilty in the United States to plotting the murder of Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has written a personal letter to the sentencing judge saying he planned the operation alone, according to reports published on Sunday, November 15. The letter was filed on November 13 as Document 157-1 in Case No. 1:23-cr-00289-VM before US District Judge Victor Marrero, a week ahead of Gupta's sentencing on November 20, 2026.

Source: Power Corridors, Nov 15, 2026

"I wish I could turn back time to 2023 and undo my mistakes. Now, when I look back, I don't even recognize the man I had become," Gupta wrote, describing a period in early 2023 when, in his words, he had "lost my mind", had become distant from his family and was drinking heavily almost every night. Media reports have highlighted his assertion in the letter that he planned the operation alone — a claim that sits apart from the US prosecution's wider allegations in the case, which Gupta's letter does not address beyond his own account.

Source: Jagran English, Nov 15, 2026

In the letter, Gupta described persistent suicidal thoughts after his June 2023 arrest in Prague, months of solitary confinement in the Czech Republic, and his extradition to the US in June 2024, after which he was held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He wrote that yoga, meditation, prayer and spiritual reading helped him cope, that he now guides fellow inmates in yoga, and that thoughts of his wife, children and mother stopped him from acting on suicidal impulses. "Whatever the decision of this Court may be, I will accept it as I have full faith in Your Honor," he wrote in his concluding appeal, saying he wants to reunite with his family and devote his life to helping others.

What the prosecution alleges — and what Gupta now says

US prosecutors have alleged that Gupta worked with an individual identified in court filings as an Indian government employee, linked in reporting to Vikash Yadav, in the alleged assassination conspiracy. Those remain prosecution allegations: New Delhi has rejected allegations of state involvement, and Gupta's sentencing letter presents his own account that he acted alone. The two accounts have not been reconciled by the court, and Judge Marrero will sentence Gupta on the guilty plea he entered in February.

Federal prosecutors have asked the court's permission for Pannun, the intended target, to address the court for about 20 minutes at sentencing, and have told the court they plan to present about 15 minutes of audio or video material, according to Particle News. Separately, Pannun has filed a civil lawsuit in a US court naming senior Indian officials including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel; India has rejected that lawsuit and its allegations as fabricated and malicious.

The case has strained India-US relations since the indictment was unsealed in late 2023, and the November 20 sentencing is expected to draw a large public turnout. Awaaz Punjab will report the sentence when it is pronounced.

Awaaz Punjab has been following the parallel civil case Pannun filed in New York against Indian officials. Read the earlier report on the Pannun lawsuit