Pannun plot: Indian accused pleads not guilty in US court, first visuals emerge

Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national who is accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against a Sikh extremist on American soil, pleaded not guilty in the case at a federal court on Monday.

The 52-year-old accused was extradited on Friday from the Czech Republic to the US. Gupta was apprehended in the Czech Republic in 2023 at the request of the US government as he was charged for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani separatist, in New York.

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

Last month, the Czech Constitutional Court had rejected a petition filed by Gupta against his extradition to the US.

US federal prosecutors alleged that the accused Indian national had been working on the directions of an Indian government official. However, India denied its involvement in the case, and instituted a high-level probe into the allegations made by the US.