In a significant development in the investigation of the assassination plot of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Nikhil Gupta, an Indian-origin man accused of conspiring with a government official to assassinate the US-based Sikh separatist moved the Supreme Court. Gupta's family filed a plea in the apex court asking for the Indian government to intervene in the extradition proceedings imitated by the United States. Gupta, aged 52, has been behind bars in Prague in the Czech Republic, or Czechia since June this year.
About Pannun's Assassination Plot
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan earlier stated that Nikhil Gupta collaborated with an Indian government official responsible for security and intelligence. Together, they allegedly conspired to assassinate a New York City resident who advocates for the establishment of a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.
The prosecutors refrained from disclosing the identity of the Indian official or the intended target. In June, Czech authorities arrested Gupta on the request of the US government.
Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement, "The defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs."
US Claims To Thwart Assassination Plot
These charges follow statements from a senior Biden administration official in November, revealing that U.S. authorities successfully prevented a plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil. The official also issued a caution to India, expressing concerns over potential involvement by the government in New Delhi.
The official specified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, asserting his dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, as the intended target of the thwarted plot.
