The US Justice Department on Wednesday charged an Indian in connection with “a failed plot to murder an Indian-American citizen in New York”. The name of this Indian man is Nikhil Gupta alias Nick and a charge of ‘murder for hire’ has been filed against him. However, the name of the person accused of planning the murder was not in the Justice Department document. But if sources are to be believed, an alleged murder conspiracy was hatched to kill Sikh separatist leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The press release of the US Justice Department states that 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta is an Indian citizen. Under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic, he was arrested by Czech authorities on June 30. It is being told that an Indian government employee whose name is not in the document, but he has been called CC-1. He is working with others in India and elsewhere, including Nikhil Gupta, on a conspiracy to murder a lawyer and political activist in the US. This worker is an American citizen of Indian origin living in New York City.
Nikhil Gupta has been described as an associate of CC-1. The document said Gupta mentioned his involvement in international narcotics and arms trafficking in his communications with CC-1 and others. Nikhil Gupta was recruited by CC-1 in May 2023 for “conspiracy to commit murder”.
The document states that Nikhil Gupta contacted his criminal associate in New York seeking help in hiring a hitman. However, both this associate and the alleged hitman were working with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). It was told in the document that after this, a deal was made. In June, Nikhil Gupta was given personal information about the target, which he passed on to the alleged hitman.
The document mentions the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and says that Nikhil Gupta told the alleged hitman (an undercover officer) that Nijjar was also a target and there were many targets. The document said Nikhil Gupta had traveled from India to the Czech Republic on or around June 30 when he was arrested by authorities at the request of the United States.
