New Delhi: A US federal judge has scheduled the trial of Indian national Nikhil Gupta to begin on November 3 and directed authorities to retain the USD 15,000 in cash allegedly used to pay a hitman on behalf of a former Indian intelligence officer.Earlier, Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York had asked both prosecution and defence to consider starting the trial in June or July. However, both sides requested a November date, as they expected a number of pre-trial motions to be filed and contested.In his order, Judge Marrero set the trial to begin on November 3, with an estimated duration of about one week. Three days later, he accepted the government’s submission seeking to preserve the seized cash, allegedly handed to an undercover agent posing as a hitman on June 9, 2023, in New York. The order, dated April 1, authorises US agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to retain the money and keeps open the possibility of permanent forfeiture if Gupta is convicted.The order formalises the US government’s right to hold the property and preserve the option for permanent forfeiture.According to the October 2024 indictment, Gupta informed the purported hitman that an associate, identified only as “Individual-2,” would deliver the payment. The indictment includes a photograph showing wads of cash being exchanged between two individuals in a car.Interestingly, the government’s application notes that the money was “seized on or about June 9, 2023 from an individual, G.S., in the area of 27th Street and 11th Avenue, in New York.”Gupta, an Indian businessman, is facing murder-for-hire charges for allegedly plotting the assassination of a US citizen at the behest of Vikas Yadav, a former officer of India’s external intelligence agency, R&AW. While court documents do not name the intended target, it is widely believed to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-based lawyer linked to the banned group Sikhs for Justice. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the US a year later.
