New footage of Nikhil Gupta who is an Indian citizen and accused for plotting to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was released by the Czech Republic Police on Monday showing safety extradition from Prague airport. Gupta was being sent to the US to face charges in the hire-for-murder case on June 14 after he was arrested in Prague, a year ago.
The Czech Republic Police on X shared the video and wrote, “The foreigner suspected in the United States of an assassination plot has been in the hands of the US judiciary since Friday.”
It also added that Nikhil Gupta was “safely extradited from a Prague airport”, posting video images of the Indian national (with his face blurred) being escorted onto a plane.
Czech justice minister Pavel Blazek had announced on the social media platform about Gupta's successful extradition to the US on June 14.
Blazek had written, "On the basis of my decision on (June 3), Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta, who is suspected of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire with intent to cause death, was extradited to the US on Friday (June 14) for criminal prosecution."
Nikhil Gupta was detained at the Prague airport on June 30, 2023, under extradition orders issued by the US Justice Department.
In May, the Czech constitutional court approved Nikhil Gupta's extradition.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun To Face Courtroom In America After Pleading Not Guilty
Indian national Nikhil Gupta, 53, accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against a Sikh extremist on American soil, will now face justice in a US courtroom, Attorney General Merrick Garland has said, asserting that the country will not tolerate attempts to harm its citizens.
Gupta, 53, also known as Nick, was arrested and detained in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, at the request of the US government on charges of being involved in a plot to assassinate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. He was extradited to the US on June 14.
Gupta was produced before a federal court in New York on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty, according to his attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe.
"This extradition makes clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens," Garland said on Monday.
"Nikhil Gupta will now face justice in an American courtroom for his involvement in an alleged plot, directed by an employee of the Indian government, to target and assassinate a US citizen for his support of the Sikh separatist movement in India," he said.
Gupta is charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each charge.
India's Ministry of External Affairs, however, dismissed the report, saying it makes “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations” to claim that Indian agents were involved in the plot to kill Pannun.
India has publicly said a high-level inquiry is looking into the evidence shared by the US in the alleged plot to kill Pannun.
(With PTI inputs)
