Key Takeaways
- Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, has been extradited to the US from the Czech Republic on charges of involvement in a failed plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
- Gupta has been charged with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate Pannun in New York, carrying up to 20 years in prison.
- Gupta’s extradition comes ahead of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit to New Delhi for the annual ICET dialogue.
New Delhi: Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national suspected by the US of involvement in a failed plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has been extradited from the Czech Republic to the US, according to reports.
He is expected to be produced before a federal court in New York on Monday.
An inmate search by name on the Bureau of Prisons website shows that Gupta is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, a federal administrative detention facility.
Last month, the Czech Constitutional Court rejected a petition by Gupta, 52, against his extradition to the US over an alleged plot to assassinate Pannun, a US citizen, in New York.
Gupta has been charged by the US government with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate US-based Pannun.
The charges against Gupta carry up to 20 years in prison.
In November 2023, US prosecutors charged Gupta with a plot to kill at least four Sikh separatists in North America, including Pannun.
They said that Gupta had paid $100,000 in cash to a hitman to assassinate Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, in New York.
He was arrested in the Czech Republic last year at the request of the US government.
Gupta’s extradition to the US comes ahead of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit to New Delhi for the annual ICET dialogue. The issue is likely to figure in his talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
India has denied involvement in the case and has set up an investigation into the allegations.
Gupta through his attorney has denied the charges.
