Who is Nikhil Gupta? What allegations are against him?
Who is Nikhil Gupta? What allegations are against him?Indian national Nikhil Gupta was extradited to the US from the czech republic on charges that he planned to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. On Monday, he's supposed to appear in court. At the US government's request, Gupta was detained in the czech republic last year on suspicion of participating in an assassination conspiracy against Pannun. Following his detention in the czech republic, Gupta arrived in New York over the weekend, according to The Washington Post, which first revealed the news of his extradition.The 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta, often known as "Nick," was taken into custody by Czech police in Prague in June. The US prosecution has accused Gupta of trying to arrange for a hitman to kill US citizen Pannun, a separatist from Khalistani who has been labeled as a terrorist by the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in India. The US has claimed that an indian government employee—whose identity is unknown and who has been identified as CC-1 in the case—is the mastermind behind Pannu's murder and that she gave Gupta instructions on how to carry out the assassination operation.According to the US, Gupta was hired by CC-1 in May to plan the assassination of the Pannun, a prominent opponent of the indian government and the head of a US-based group that supports Punjab's secession. In order to hire a hitman for the murder, Gupta, acting on CC-1's orders, got in touch with a confidential source who was employed by the DEA. In a later agreement mediated by Gupta, CC-1 agreed to pay the hitman, an undercover DEA agent, USD 100,000.Pannu's personal details, including his New York City residence, phone numbers, and details about his day-to-day activities, were given to Gupta by CC-1 in June. Gupta then provided the undercover agent with this information. CC-1 gave Gupta instructions to report on the assassination plot's development on a regular basis. After Pannun was killed in june, Gupta told the undercover agent that there was "no need to wait" to assassinate Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Based on the bilateral extradition treaty between the US and the czech republic, the Czech authorities detained Gupta on june 30. Gupta is charged with two counts of murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire, each of which carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.