Officials said on Monday that an Indian national who is charged with planning to kill a US person in New York City has been extradited to face trial.
Following his Friday extradition from the Czech Republic and arrival in the US, 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta entered a not-guilty plea in a Manhattan federal court. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist leader and dual Canadian and US citizen, is accused of attempting to hire someone to kill him.
“This murder-for-hire plot — allegedly orchestrated by an Indian government employee to kill a U.S. citizen in New York City — was a brazen attempt to silence a political activist for exercising a quintessential American right: his freedom of speech,” stated Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
To remove Pannun, who has pushed for the creation of an independent state for the Sikhs, an ethnoreligious minority in India, the Justice Department claimed that Gupta had plotted with the Indian government official. According to the Indian government, he is a terrorist.
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The Drug Enforcement Administration’s undercover operation in June of last year foiled a plot to kill Pannun, according to a November announcement by federal prosecutors.
A criminal associate was approached by Gupta, who was posing as a weapons trafficker, to assist in finding a hit man—who later turned out to be a DEA informant—to execute the murder. The DEA agent, who was allegedly a hit man, was introduced to Gupta by the informant, according to court records.
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In June 2023, he supposedly supplied surveillance photographs of the purported target and offered $100,000 for the assassination.
Gupta’s attorney, Jeff Chabrowe, described the issue as a “complex matter for both our countries” in a statement he delivered outside the courthouse.
Avoiding concluding too quickly at this stage of the process is crucial. There will be developments in the background that could completely refute official accusations. Notwithstanding external demands, we will relentlessly pursue his defense and make sure he gets a fair trial.”
Murder for hire and conspiracy to murder for hire are the charges against Gupta, and each carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.
Contact has been made between Fox News Digital and the Indian Embassy located in Washington, D.C.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada stated in September that there were legitimate claims involving the Indian government’s involvement in the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in that nation. As ludicrous, India denied the charge.
