Sikh separatist murder plot: Indian suspect Nikhil Gupta pleads not guilty in US court
Extradited from the Czech Republic last week, he has been accused of conspiring with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
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Indian national Nikhil Gupta, suspected by American authorities of conspiring to assassinate a Sikh separatist in New York, pleaded not guilty at a court in the United States on Monday, reported PTI.
The 52-year-old appeared in the federal court after being extradited from the Czech Republic on Friday. Czech authorities had arrested Gupta on June 30 at the request of the United States when he travelled from India to Prague.
Gupta is now lodged at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
He has been accused of conspiring with an unnamed Indian government official to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
On November 29, the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, announced that it had filed “murder-for-hire charges” against Gupta in connection with his alleged participation in a thwarted plot to assassinate Pannun. Gupta paid $1,00,000 in cash to a hitman to assassinate Pannun, the US prosecutors said. The hitman turned out to be an undercover federal agent.
On Monday, the prosecutors alleged that Gupta was directed by an unnamed Indian government official to carry out the killing. They also asked that Gupta be held in a detention centre until his trial.
Gupta’s lawyer, Jeff Chabrowe, said that he would file a bail application at a later date, reported the BBC. He also told the court that Gupta was...
