Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, was extradited to the US from the Czech Republic on charges of participating in a murder-for-hire plan against a Sikh extremist on American soil. The 52-year-old Gupta was detained in the Czech Republic last year at the US government’s request on suspicion of taking part in a plan to assassinate American citizen and Khalistani rebel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.

Gupta filed a plea last month seeking to have his extradition to the US to face the accusations, which was denied by the Czech Constitutional Court. Federal prosecutors in the US claim that Gupta was carrying out his duties at the behest of an unidentified Indian government official. India has however denied its involvement in such a case and has instituted a high-level investigation into the allegations.

Gupta is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, and on Monday, he is scheduled to appear in court before a federal judge in New York.

The first news source to report on Gupta’s extradition was The Washington Post, which lists him as a prisoner at the Brooklyn Detention Centre. “Gupta, who had been detained in the Czech Republic, arrived in New York over the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive legal proceedings. Typically, extradited defendants must appear in court within a day of their arrival in the country,” the report said.

Federal prosecutors allege that Gupta hired a hitman to kill Pannun and paid USD 15,000 in advance. Gupta, through his attorney, has denied the charges and said that he has been ‘unfairly charged’. “Gupta’s attorney, Rohini Musa, wrote in a petition to the Indian Supreme Court that her client is being unfairly prosecuted, saying there is ‘nothing on record to link the petitioner to the massive alleged plot to assassinate the alleged victim’,” The Washington Post said.

Interestingly, the extradition of Gupta occurs before the annual initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) dialogue between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi this week.

(with PTI inputs)