Expecting accountability from India in Pannun case, says US

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The US has said it expects accountability from India concerning the alleged role of an Indian government employee in the failed attempt to assassinate a Sikh separatist on US soil last summer.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual American and Canadian citizenship, in New York.

Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14. “We continue to expect accountability from the government of India...,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in response to a question at his daily news conference.

“We continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian government at senior levels,” he said. India has denied the allegations but has constituted an internal investigation team to look into it. Patel, however, declined to comment on a news report alleging that Canadian authorities claim to have arrested five Indian nationals planning to target a Sikh separatist at a wedding ceremony.

He said that the US continues to raise its concerns directly with the Indian government at senior levels.