‘No Consular Access Request Received’: MEA On Indian Extradited To US In Pannun Murder Plot Case

The external affairs ministry said it did not receive any consular access request from Nikhil Gupta.

Gupta, an Indian citizen, was recently extradited to the US from Czechia after being accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a Khalistani separatist leader and calls himself a legal counsel for the Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice. He who lives in New York and is known to have called for violence against India in order to carve out a separate Khalistani nation for Sikhs.

The MEA, however, said that it is in touch with his family.

“We are in touch with his family,” Randhir Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson said.

India has labeled Pannun a terrorist while distancing itself from the associated conspiracy. The government expressed concern late last year over the involvement of an Indian official in the plot and committed to a formal investigation into the issues highlighted by the United States.

Nikhil Gupta was arrested in Czechia last year at the request of the US government on charges of being involved in a plot to assassinate Pannun in New York. Pannun holds dual American and Canadian citizenship.

Gupta was produced before a federal court in New York on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty, according to his attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe.

He made his first appearance in Manhattan federal court before Magistrate Judge James Cott on Monday afternoon for his arraignment and pleaded not guilty. Gupta’s attorney Jeffrey Chabrowe entered the “not guilty” plea on his behalf. Gupta is being held in a Brooklyn detention facility.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each charge. The next court hearing in the case is on June 28. Court records show that a status conference has been set for June 28 before Judge Victor Marrero.