The arrest and temporary detention of the 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta who was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to assassinate pro-Khalistan radical Gurpatwant Singh Pannun have been verified by the Czech Ministry of Justice, reported India Today. The United States which has accused the Indian national of being involved in a “murder for hire” operation aimed at the chief of the banned Sikhs For Justice outfit demanded to initiate the action.
According to US investigators, the accused planned to kill the Khalistani terrorist in their country with the help of an unidentified Indian government employee. He was taken into custody in the Czech Republic by the country’s law enforcement officials in June 2023.
A representative for the Czech Ministry of Justice Vladimir Repka revealed that Nikhil Gupta was captured at the US government’s request after which it made an extradition request. The US authorities have detailed the charges against him including conspiracy to “murder for hire.” They submitted the extradition request in August 2023 citing the aforementioned accusation.
The Prague Municipal Public Prosecution Office moved to deem Nikhil Gupta’s extradition admissible after conducting preliminary inquiries. The ruling, however, is not yet legally enforceable. He was indicted by the US Justice Department on 20th November for his suspected role in the murder plot.
“An Indian government employee, working together with others, including Gupta, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on US soil an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City,” claimed a statement released by the US officials. He had allegedly given an assassin $100,000 to carry out the murder with a $15,000 down payment already received on 9 June of this year. However, the person he reached out to recruit the hitman was a confidential informant for US law enforcement.
Nikhil Gupta is being prosecuted with murder for hire, a crime which carries a potential 10-year sentence. According to the Justice Department, an Indian government employee known as CC-1 was in charge of the murder plot from India. Nikhil Gupta is also believed to be involved in the global trafficking of drugs and firearms. Furthermore, he allegedly attempted to hire a hitman who was an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent.
New Delhi responded to the accusation and asserted that it was against government policy and was concerned that one of its officials was associated with the conspiracy. Afterwards, the Indian government formed a high-level inquiry committee to probe into “all the relevant aspects of the matter.”
Notably, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has repeatedly threatened India with terrorist actions including blowing up an Air India flight as well as attacking the Indian parliament as a retaliation for the alleged plan of the Indian government to eliminate him. He described himself as a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, however, no action has been taken against him by either nation despite his regular terror threats and assaults on Indians including diplomats living on their soil by his followers and supporters.