Attempt to murder Pannun: Czech court allows extradition of Nikhil Gupta to US

This recent development paves the way for Gupta’s extradition, pending the final decision from the Ministry of Justice

May 23, 2024

Prague can extradite Pannun’s murder plot suspect Nikhil Gupta to US

Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national arrested by Czech authorities in connection with charges of attempt to murder Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, can be extradited to the US, the Czech Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday. The United States charged India’s spy agency R&AW for hiring Nikhil Gupta to murder Pannun on US soil. Minister of Justice (Czech Republic) Pavel Blazek will take the final call on the extradition.

The Czech authorities arrested Gupta on 30 June 2023 at a request by the US. An indictment unsealed by the US Justice Department in November 2023 named Gupta as a part of the plot to allegedly murder Pannun, whom India has designated as a terrorist. Khalistani supporter and head of Sikh For Justice (SFJ) Pannun living in the US and Canada was the kingpin of many terror attempts in India.

The Czech Constitutional Court Wednesday rejected Gupta’s application against extradition to the US. “The complaint of a citizen of the Republic of India, against whom criminal proceedings are being conducted in the United States of America (USA), was rejected today by the Constitutional Court,” a statement on its website said.

“The applicant is being prosecuted in the US for the crime of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and aiding and abetting that crime. The Constitutional Court has now confirmed the decision of the general courts on the admissibility of extradition,” said the court. According to media reports, Justice Minister Blazek will now evaluate the Constitutional Court decision before deciding on Gupta’s extradition.

The US Justice Department, in its November 2023 indictment, claimed that Gupta conspired with others, including an agent of the Government of India, to make a $100,000 deal to kill Pannun. The indictment did not name the Indian government official, referred to as “CC-1”.

The Washington Post, in April 2024, reported that Vikram Yadav, a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer, was the Indian official behind the plot. The newspaper also said the then R&AW chief Samant Goel sanctioned the operation. India’s Ministry of External Affairs, however, dismissed the report, saying it makes “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations” to claim that Indian agents were involved in the plot to kill Pannun.

The media reported that US agents lured Nikhil Gupta to travel from India to the Czech Republic’s Prague, where he was arrested. US authorities then seized his laptop and mobile phone, which allowed them to decrypt his communications with R&AW officer Yadav. The US first brought notice of its cases against Gupta to Indian authorities in August 2023. India said a high-level inquiry is looking into the evidence shared by the US in the alleged plot to kill Pannun.

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