June 17th 2024.
The news coming out of New York is that Nikhil Gupta, who has been accused of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist, has been extradited to the United States. According to prison records, Gupta is now in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. This is where prisoners who are due to appear in federal courts in the area are held.
Reports from the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate records indicate that Gupta is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. A spokesperson for the federal court of the Southern District of New York, quoted by NBC TV network, has confirmed this.
Gupta's journey to the US has been a long one. He was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30th last year and the US government had requested his extradition. However, this process was delayed due to Gupta's appeal to the Czech Constitutional Court earlier this year. His appeal was rejected last month, finally clearing the way for his extradition to the US.
The alleged plot that Gupta is accused of being a part of has caused concern in the US, especially since it involves an Indian police officer who is said to be the mastermind behind it. According to court documents, Gupta, who also goes by the name "Nick", is charged with participating in a plot with an unnamed Indian "senior field officer" to assassinate the leader of a US-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab state and the establishment of a Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan.
The leader of this organization, who is not named in the court documents, is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. He is a lawyer with both US and Canadian citizenship and resides in New York. Pannun runs a campaign for Khalistan and is designated as a terrorist by the Indian government.
In a filing to the New York court in January, Gupta's lawyer Jeffrey Chabrowe raised concerns about his client's well-being while in custody in Prague. According to Gupta's family's media interviews, he was allegedly facing human rights violations and was kept in solitary confinement without consular access. The court documents also reveal that Gupta had contacted a person he believed to be a "criminal associate" to carry out the assassination, but was actually an undercover US law enforcement officer. Gupta had offered this person $100,000 to carry out the assassination and had already arranged for an advance of $15,000 to be delivered.
Gupta had also revealed his involvement in narcotics and weapons trafficking to the "senior field officer" and had asked for their help in getting cases against him in India dismissed. His lawyer, Charbrowe, had requested more details about the case from the prosecution to prepare a proper defense. However, the request was dismissed by Federal Judge Victor Marrero who stated that the prosecution has 14 days after Gupta's court appearance to provide this information.
In April, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the US government has made it clear to the Indian government that they want a full investigation into this matter. They are eagerly awaiting the results of this investigation.
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