iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Nikhil Gupta, an accused in the plot to kill Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, pled not guilty in a federal court in Manhattan on Monday, June 17. Gupta has been accused of plotting to kill Pannun on the orders of the Indian government. He has been charged with murder-for-hire conspiracy.
Gupta, who was extradited to the US by the Czech Republic on June 14, is in the federal Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, where he is listed as an inmate. US prosecutors had earlier accused Gupta of plotting to murder Pannun, an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship. The Indian government launched an investigation after denying involvement in the case.
Earlier in November, the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment against an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate a US-based leader of the Sikh Separatist Movement and a citizen in New York.
Gupta’s attorney Jeffrey Chabrowe said: “We will pursue Gupta’s defense vigorously and ensure he receives full due process, regardless of outside pressures. This is a complex matter for both our countries. Background and details [of the case] will develop that may cast government allegations into an entirely new light.”
In its indictment, the Justice Department has claimed that earlier last year, an Indian government employee working together with others, including Gupta, directed a plot to assassinate a political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City. It was alleged that Gupta is an associate of CC-1, and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1.
The indictment claims that CC -1 directed the assassination plot from India. At CC-1’s direction, Gupta allegedly contacted an individual who he believed to be a criminal associate, but who was a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the US. The source, it was alleged, introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was a DEA undercover officer. The purported hitman was offered USD 100,000 to murder the separatist leader, the Justice Department claimed.
