An Indian national accused of conspiring to murder an American citizen in New York has been extradited to the United States
Nikhil Gupta was charged by United States authorities last year for allegedly attempting to engage the services of an assassin to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist leader based in the New York. Gupta was detained in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic last year at the behest of the U.S.
Pannun holds dual US-Canadian citizenship.
His appeal against extradition to the U.S. was dismissed last month by the Czech Constitutional Court.
Currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, Gupta is due to appear in a federal court in New York on Monday and faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
Prosecutors claim that Gupta paid $100,000 in cash to a hitman to assassinate Pannun. The hitman, however, turned out to be an undercover federal agent.
The Indian government denied any involvement in the alleged assassination plot after US authorities alleged that Gupta was working for an unnamed top Indian government official.
In January, India’s Supreme Court dismissed Gupta’s plea for assistance in securing his release and stopping the extradition saying it was the government’s responsibility.
