Nikhil Gupta withdraws motion to dismiss indictment ahead of US trial in Pannun assassination plot

Separately, he has challenged other core criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

In a strategic shift ahead of his trial, New Delhi resident Nikhil Gupta—accused by U.S. prosecutors of conspiring to assassinate U.S.-based separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—has withdrawn a self-filed motion to dismiss the indictment against him.

Separately, he has challenged other core criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Court records from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York show that Gupta submitted a pro se motion on May 22, 2025, seeking dismissal of the indictment and immediate release on bail.

In a seven-page letter addressed to Judge Victor Marrero—and marked to the U.S. Attorney's Office (SDNY) and court-appointed attorney Matthew Joseph Laroche—Gupta declared that he was "hereby invoking his right to self-representation."

In the motion, Gupta argued that the indictment was fatally flawed because it failed to specify which state or federal statute would have been violated had the alleged murder-for-hire plot succeeded—an omission he claimed invalidated both the charges and his extradition from the Czech Republic.