Nikhil Gupta, arrested by Czech authorities in June last year during his travel from India to Prague, faces allegations from US federal prosecutors of collaborating with an Indian government official in the conspiracy to kill Pannun, a designated Khalistani terrorist.
The Prague high court has ruled that the Czech Republic can extradite Nikhil Gupta to the United States. Gupta is accused by the US of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. A final decision on the extradition of Nikhil Gupta will be in the hands of Justice Minister Pavel Blazek once the ruling is delivered to all parties in the case, a ministry spokesperson told Reuters.
Federal prosecutors in the United States have levelled allegations against Nikhil Gupta, charging him of conspiring alongside an Indian government official to assassinate a New York City resident who is known for his outspoken support of an autonomous Sikh state in Northern India. Pannun, a designated Khalistani terrorist and the founder of Sikh For Justice (SFJ), is a designated terrorist who has previously issued threats against Indian establishments and authorities.
Gupta was apprehended by law enforcement authorities from the Czech Republic during his visit from India to Prague last June.
Czech news website www.seznamzpravy.cz, which first reported on the development, said Gupta had argued his identity was mistaken and that he was not the man the United States was looking for. “The timeframe for the minister’s decision cannot be assumed at this point,” the justice ministry spokesperson said, adding that Gupta could be expected to take all steps possible to try to prevent his extradition.The minister has three months to turn to Supreme Court in case he has doubts about the lower court’s decisions, the spokesperson said.
The Prague high court rejected Gupta’s appeal against a December decision by a lower court that ruled that extradition is allowed.
A sealed indictment against Gupta had been filed earlier at a federal court in New York, but Gupta’s name only became public after US federal prosecutors released the new detailed charges in November 2023.
The charges also said for the first time that Gupta had, allegedly on the instructions of an Indian government official, hired a hitman – who was actually an undercover officer – to kill a lawyer working for a Khalistani group in New York. While the name of the target was not released by US authorities, he is known to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel for Sikhs for Justice, a Khalistani group banned by India, according to a report on The Wire.