Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. File
| Photo Credit: AP

As the diplomatic row between India and Canada escalated on Monday (October 14, 2024) over the death over pro-Khalistan figure and Canadian citizen in British Columbia last year, the U.S. State Department announced that an Indian investigation team would travel to Washington DC on October 15 to investigate a plot to kill a U.S. Citizen in New York.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges in November 2023 alleging that an Indian government employee directed a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani separatist designated as a terrorist by the Indian government in 2020. Pannun heads Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a group that advocates for a separate homeland for Sikhs or Khalistan.

“The Enquiry Committee will be traveling to Washington, D.C. on October 15, as part of their ongoing investigations to discuss the case, including information they have obtained, and to receive an update from U.S. authorities regarding the U.S. case that is proceeding,” the Office of the Spokesperson at the U.S. State Department said.

An Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, was extradited to the U.S. from the Czech Republic in June 2024 and is now in detention in Brooklyn. Federal prosecutors had alleged that Mr. Gupta hired a hitman to kill Pannun and paid him for the job. The Indian government had set up an inquiry into the allegations in November last year.

Also read | U.S. blames Indian official for ‘plot’ against Khalistani separatist

“Additionally, India has informed the United States they are continuing their efforts to investigate other linkages of the former government employee and will determine follow up steps, as necessary,” the spokesperson’s office said.

Separately, a U.S. District Court had summoned National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel and others last month in connection with a complaint lodged by Mr. Pannun. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said the case was aid the case was based on “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations”.

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Czech Constitutional Court has rejected a petition by Indian national Nikhil Gupta, detained in a prison in Prague, against his extradition to the U.S. to face murder-for-hire charges in an alleged assassination attempt on a Khalistani extremist on American soil.

Gupta, 52, was charged by U.S. federal prosecutors in an indictment unsealed in November last year with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual American and Canadian citizenships, in the U.S.

Gupta was arrested in Prague, the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, and is being held there currently. The U.S. government is seeking his extradition to America.

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The Czech Constitutional Court heard a petition by Gupta against the extradition.

“The Constitutional Court did not find any circumstance for which declaring extradition admissible would lead to a violation of any of the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement on Wednesday.

The court said it ruled that lower courts had given due consideration to aspects that may prevent extradition. It also rejected arguments that the case was political.

“For the complainant, this brings the proceedings before the Czech courts to an end.”

The Constitutional Court said it has now confirmed the decision of the general courts on the admissibility of extradition, upholding the Municipal Court and The High Court’s order.

The court also upheld the local court’s decision to reject Gupta’s request for release from pre-trial detention and did not accept compensation for detention in the form of a monetary guarantee, or in the form of a ban on travel abroad.

Before the Constitutional Court, the applicant said courts did not examine all the essential circumstances that could become an obstacle to extradition, according to the statement.

A Czech high court in January ruled Gupta can be extradited to the U.S.

A final decision on whether to extradite Gupta will be made by Justice Minister Pavel Blazek.

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 paper also said the then R&AW chief Samant Goel sanctioned the operation.

The Indian 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.

India has publicly said a high-level inquiry is looking into the evidence shared by the U.S. in the alleged plot to kill Pannun.