Nikhil Gupta is accused in an alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Pannun is a US-based Khalistani terrorist, as the case describes him.
Gupta has written an emotional letter to District Judge Victor Marrero, a judge in the US.
In it, he indicates that he may have planned the attack alone.
Key points
- Gupta has pleaded guilty in the US court to murder-for-hire and related charges.
- In his letter, he expresses remorse and describes his mental struggle in early 2023.
- He is set to be sentenced on November 20.
- India has rejected Pannun's civil lawsuit, calling its allegations fabricated and malicious.
What did Gupta say in his letter?
He wrote that he misses his family deeply. He said he wishes he could go back to 2023 and undo his mistakes.
Gupta said that in early 2023 his life looked fine from outside.
Inside, he says, he had lost his way and drifted away from his family.
He admitted he started drinking heavily almost every night. He wrote that things got worse from there.
How did he cope while in jail?
Gupta was held in the Czech Republic before being sent to the US.
Later, he was kept at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.
He said he turned to meditation, yoga and spiritual books.
These helped him cope with isolation and threats from fellow inmates.
He said his biggest challenge was contacting his family. He could not do so for several weeks because of restrictions on him.
Where does the case stand now?
Gupta pleaded guilty on February 13 to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering.
Murder-for-hire means paying someone to carry out a killing.
He faces up to 40 years in jail. The prosecution has asked the court to give Pannun 20 minutes to address the court directly.
Graphic: News Anek, from the facts in this report
Pannun also filed a civil lawsuit in a US district court.
It names National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel. RAW is India's foreign intelligence agency.
India has rejected the lawsuit and its allegations against top officials. It called them fabricated and malicious.
