'Won't speak until charges are proven before a jury': US on alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

The United States has said that the investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an ongoing legal matter and yet to be proven before a jury. The US State Department said it “won’t speak” until “allegations are proved” before a jury. Notably, India-designated terrorist, Pannun holds American and Canadian citizenship.

“There’s a publicly returned indictment that contains alleged facts or allegations. Until they’re proven before a jury that anyone can go and read, I won’t speak to them here because, of course, it’s an ongoing legal matter, and I’ll leave it at that,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a State Department briefing on Thursday (local time), reported news agency ANI.

Pannun is known for his anti-India remarks and has made provocative statements, including death threats against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home minister Amit Shah, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

A 52-year-old Indian, Nikhil Gupta, is accused by the United States of involvement in the alleged attempt to kill Pannun.

The US Justice Department had claimed that an Indian government employee recruited Indian national Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman for allegedly assassinating Pannun.

Gupta is currently in custody in the Czech Republic. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, 2023, under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.

A Czech court has ruled that the country can extradite Gupta to the US, a Czech-based media outlet Seznam Zpravy reported, citing judicial database Infosoud.

Meanwhile, Indian authorities are doing their own separate investigation into the allegations over Pannun’s alleged murder plot. Recently, India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that a high-level inquiry committee set up by New Delhi to look into inputs provided by the US on the alleged plot was still probing the case.

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