One year after Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in Surrey B.C., an Indian man has pled not guilty in a U.S. court to conspiracy charges for a plot to kill one of Nijjar’s associates.
Czech police said Nikhil Gupta was extradited last month from the Czech Republic to the United States.
He is accused of plotting with an Indian government official in a murder-for-hire plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun who is a member of the group Sikhs for Justice and an advocate for an independent Khalistan.
According to court records, Gupta paid an undercover federal agent $15,000 with the promise of more to carry out a murder-for-hire plot against the New York-based lawyer.
According to the indictment, authorities have physical and wiretap evidence directly linking Gupta to an agent of the Indian government.
The accused made his first court appearance in New York in mid-June.
Last week, he made another brief court appearance so Gupta’s legal team could file for full disclosure of the state’s evidence.
Pannun holds U.S. and Canadian citizenship and is a close associate of Nijjar.
The allegations laid out in the U.S. court records link the attempted assassination in New York to the one carried out in Surrey last year.
The indictment mentions Nijjar by name and according to wiretap evidence, U.S. authorities allege Gupta had direct knowledge of the plot in Surrey B.C.
Nijjar was shot and killed outside his Surrey Gurdwara on June 18, 2023.
Gupta is expected to remain in custody until his trial.