US authorities have charged an Indian man, Nikhil Gupta, with murder-for-hire charges for attempt to kill Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. This comes hours after India announced they have formed high-level probe committee into security concerns shared by US during the recent bilateral meet. Nikhil was arrested by Czech authorities in June and is awaiting extradition.Nikhil Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June and is awaiting extradition. He could not be reached for comment.
“The defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs,” Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement.
The charges come after a senior Biden administration official last week said US authorities had thwarted a plot to kill SFJ leader Pannun in US
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew G. Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the filing of murder-for-hire charges against Indian national NIKHIL GUPTA, a/k/a “Nick,” in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City. The charges are contained in a Superseding Indictment unsealed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero. Czech authorities arrested and detained GUPTA on June 30, 2023, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.
September 20, 2025
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