If convicted upon extradition, Nikhil Gupta faces up to 20 years in prison.
The Czech Republic has extradited to the United States an Indian suspected of involvement in a failed plot to kill a Sikh separatist.
Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blazek announced Monday that Nikhil Gupta was taken into US custody last week. Washington has alleged that the suspect was part of a plot directed by the Indian government.
Gupta is accused by US federal prosecutors of conspiring with intelligence and security officials to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US and Canadian citizen who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.
Czech authorities arrested Gupta, 52, after he traveled to Prague from India in June last year. Last month, a Czech court rejected his request to avoid being sent to the United States, paving the way for the Czech justice minister to extradite him.
Blazek noted in X that he gave the green light two weeks ago.
Na základě mého rozhodnutí z 3.6.2024 byl v pátek 14.6.2024 vydán k trestnímu stíhání do USA indický občan Nikhil Gupta, který je podezřelý ze spáchání trestného činu spiknutí za účelem spáchání é v raždy s úmyslem způsobit smrt. Díky všem složkám, které se na realization…
– Pavel Blažek (@blazek_p) June 17, 2024
Translation: Based on my decision on [June 3]Indian national Nikhil Gupta, suspected of conspiracy to commit murder for hire with intent to cause death, was extradited to the United States on Friday to face criminal prosecution.
Gupta's Czech lawyer, Petr Slepicka, previously told The Associated Press that he planned to file a constitutional complaint with the country's highest legal authority asking the minister not to allow the extradition. “It's a political case,” he said.
In November, US prosecutors announced that a plot to kill Pannun had been thwarted after an undercover operation led by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Gupta was arrested in Prague under an extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic. He denied any involvement in the case.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Unstable diplomatic ties
New Delhi has long complained about Sikh separatist groups outside India, considering them security threats. The groups have kept alive the movement for Khalistan, an independent Sikh state to be created in India.
But the alleged plots against them have strained U.S. and Canadian relations with India even though the West views the country as a counterweight to China's growing global influence.
Canada said in September that its intelligence agencies were investigating allegations linking the Indian government to the assassination of another Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June 2023. India has rejected the allegation as absurd.
The Indian government has also sought to disassociate itself from the plot against Pannun, saying such a tactic was against government policy. He said he will formally investigate security concerns raised by Washington.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom linked the alleged assassination attempt on Pannun to a broader pattern of violence against religious minorities in India.
But last month, Washington said it was satisfied so far with steps taken by India to ensure accountability in the alleged plots, although it added that many steps still needed to be taken.
