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India has obtained consular access to meet Indian national Nikhil Gupta, the accused of conspiracy and attempted murder involving India-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in the custody of Czech authorities and is providing all necessary consular assistance, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
Addressing a weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "It is a legal issue...an Indian national is under the custody of the Czech Republic. The request for extradition by the US is pending there. We have had consular access three times. We are providing whatever possible consular help in the matter." MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi further said that the matter is sub-judice after a family member of accused Nikhil Gupta filed a petition in the Supreme Court. "The family of this Indian national (Nikhil Gupta), had given a petition in the Supreme Court. The matter is sub judice, so it won't be appropriate to comment on the matter now...it will not be able to comment on jurisdictions on this issue," he added. On being asked about five Indian-American lawmakers in the US being briefed about the case, the MEA spokesperson said that New Delhi takes the inputs seriously and has set up a high-level committee. "We take the inputs seriously; inputs have been provided by the US side. A high-level inquiry committee has been set up to look into all relevant matters. This fact has also been noted by all the members of Congress. I don't have any updates on the committee, on its timeline, or its findings," he added. The US Justice Department has claimed that an Indian government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination, which was foiled by US authorities, according to prosecutors. Following this, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that a case filed against an individual in a US court and allegedly linking him to an Indian official is a "matter of concern" and is contrary to government policy. India has also set up a high-level committee to probe the matter. In another development, a plea has been filed with the Supreme Court of India seeking assistance and the matter has been listed for a hearing on January 4. As per the plea, Nikhil Gupta is currently detained in prison in the Czech Republic while awaiting extradition to the United States in connection with the case there for allegedly being involved in a foiled plot to murder Pannun. (ANI)
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