AN Indian newspaper is reporting that the Indian national who was arrested in Prague, the Capital of the Czech Republic, for his alleged involvement in a plot to kill Khalistan supporter Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the U.S. under directions of a Government of India official has been facing a threat to his life.
The Indian Express said Nikhil Gupta was moved to solitary confinement in Pankrác prison after Czech authorities were alerted by the US about the threat.
The newspaper said that the threat was disclosed in an October 2023 email written by Rudolf Sedlacek, the head of the prison guard department of the Prison Service of the Czech Republic, to the municipal court in Prague when it was considering arguments regarding the US government’s request for Gupta’s extradition.
Sedlacek requested the court to allow Gupta to participate in a hearing scheduled for November 9, 2023, via video conference.
Gupta’s lawyer in Prague, Petr Slepicka, confirmed to the Indian Express that his client was in solitary confinement because of the death threat.
He said: “Two prison guards always accompany him whenever he moves outside his cell. Even when I have to meet him now, there is a glass wall separating him and me.”
ACCORDING to charges contained in a superseding indictment unsealed in November in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Gupta, 52, has been charged with murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun in New York City.
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The indictment also noted: “On or about June 18, 2023, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Nijjar was an associate of the Victim [Pannun], and like the Victim, was a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and an outspoken critic of the Indian government. On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta told the UC that Nijjar “was also the target” and “we have so many targets.” Gupta added that, in light of Nijjar’s murder, there was “now no need to wait” on killing the Victim. On or about June 20, 2023, CC-1 sent Gupta a news article about the Victim and messaged Gupta, “[i]t’s [a] priority now.”
The indictment states that CC-1 is an Indian government agency employee who has variously described himself as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence,” and who also has referenced previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force and receiving “officer training” in “battle craft” and “weapons.” CC-1 directed the assassination plot from India.
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