Who Is Nikhil Gupta, the Man Allegedly Accused of Killing Terrorists in Khalistan?

New Delhi: Indian national Nikhil Gupta is accused by US federal prosecutors of planning to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a dual citizen of the US and Canada, on US soil by working with an Indian government official.

Gupta is alleged to have attempted to hire a hitman; however, the hitman was actually a US federal agent operating undercover. 52-year-old Gupta is being held in the Czech Republic in anticipation of being extradited to the United States. If found guilty, he could spend up to 20 years in prison.

The Storyline

A prominent Indian official, whose identity has not been disclosed, is accused of masterminding the plot to kill Pannun in New York City. The Financial Times claimed last week that US authorities had discovered the Pannun assassination plot, but it did not provide any identifying information.

The Indian official, identified as "CC-1" in an indictment, is accused by US federal prosecutors of masterminding a plot to kill "an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City" from India.

"In a series of phone calls and emails exchanged over encrypted applications beginning in or around early May 2023, CC-1 requested that Gupta set up the victim's murder in exchange for CC-1's help in getting a criminal case against Gupta in India dropped. Gupta consented to carry out the assassination plan. To further the plot, Gupta met CC-1 in person in New Delhi in addition to their electronic communications, according to the US Department of Justice indictment.

The Indian government employee allegedly wrote Gupta a message on May 6, 2023, while they were chatting on an encrypted messaging app, saying, "This is (CC-1)... Put my name in the CC-1 Alias field. Gupta put CC-1's phone number in an alias and saved it. Subsequently, another message was received by Gupta from CC-1, stating that they had a "target in New York" and another in "California," as per the indictment.

Following CC-1's orders, Gupta allegedly asked someone he thought was a criminal associate—but who was actually a confidential informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—for help hiring a hitman to kill Pannun in New York City.

Then, through a deal supposedly arranged by Gupta, CC-1 and the undercover agent agreed that CC-1 would pay $100,000 for the assassination. Gupta was detained in the Czech Republic in June 2023 at the US's request; the US had labelled him an "international narcotics trafficker".

In response

India declared that a high-level probe committee would conduct a thorough investigation into the US claim that a government official was masterminding a murderous scheme on American soil, referring to the claim as a "matter of concern".

At a press conference on Thursday, Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry, stated, "This is a matter of concern as regards the case against an individual that has been filed in a US court, allegedly linking him to an Indian official." "We have said and let me reiterate that this is also contrary to government policy."

The US has praised India's investigation efforts.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Thursday, "We look forward to seeing the results of the investigation that the (Indian) government announced today. That's good and appropriate." So you'll understand that I'm unable to provide a detailed comment. I can affirm that we take this very seriously. In recent weeks, several of us have brought up this issue directly with the Indian government."