Wasn't told of rights at time of arrest: Pannun plot-accused Gupta to NY court

Indian Express

7 hours ago

In his latest plea, Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta, accused in the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun assassination plot, has sought to exclude some statements made to law enforcement officers, saying he was not made aware of any rights at the time of his arrest, including the right to remain silent or to an attorney.
Documents submitted on Gupta's behalf by his New York-based attorney Nola Heller are learnt to include a motion to suppress certain pieces of evidence and statements, as well as the third count of the second superseding indictment, pertaining to money laundering conspiracy, which can lead to 20 years' imprisonment.
'I was not made aware of any rights at the time of my arrest including any right to remain silent or to an attorney,' Gupta said in the declaration submitted to the court on June 23, along with a motion to suppress some pieces of evidence and drop money laundering charges submitted by Heller.
It is learnt that the defence has challenged the use of data from his phones and some of the statements made to Czech and US officials immediately after his arrest in Prague on June 30, 2023. Subsequently, he was extradited to the US on June 17, 2024, to face murder-for-hire charges.
Gupta is lodged in a federal prison in New York and his trial is slated to begin on November 3.
In his plea, Gupta has said that two American special agents — who questioned him during a car ride in Prague on the day of his arrest — did not talk about the allegations in the case or mention any assassination plot.
'Neither Special Agent Franks nor Task Force Officer Sandobal brought up the allegations in this case to me during the car ride. At no point during the car ride did I mention anything about having someone in New York City killed,' he said in a declaration submitted to New York's Southern District court.
Recalling the evening of his detention and arrest in Prague, he said that after exiting the airport, in handcuffs, he was made to board 'a dark coloured SUV with tinted windows'.
Besides the five Czech officers, already waiting for him in the car, were two other men — who he later learnt were (US) Special Agent Mark Franks and Task Force Officer Jose Sandobal.
'I respectfully submit this declaration in support of the defense's motions to suppress certain evidence and to exclude statements that the government contends were made by me to law enforcement officers,' he said while submitting the document.
On the Czech authorities accessing his phones, the data from which was later used by the US government as evidence, the 53-year-old said: 'The officers had taken three phones from me… they told me they wanted to look at the phones. I did not feel like I had any choice in the matter. I was not given the option to speak with an attorney or to refuse the request.'
He said in the declaration that while sitting in the car, the two American officers asked him to sign a form which said he didn't need an attorney for the Americans to question him, which he refused. However, earlier, he had printed his name on 'a piece of paper which he couldn't read, or wasn't read to him'.
'Task Force Officer Sandobal did not give me the time necessary to read the document, and so I printed my name without knowing what the document said,' he said, adding that he was later asked to sign a form.
'I asked what the form was, and Task Force Officer Sandobal told me, in sum and substance, that the form said that I didn't need an attorney for the Americans to question me. I refused to sign my name and did not write anything further on the paper,' Gupta said.
Earlier, the jailed Indian national had submitted a signed letter to a federal New York judge seeking dismissal of his indictment, which was later withdrawn as his lawyer informed the court that the filing had been made 'inadvertently'.
On May 29, the court received Gupta's letter asking the judge to throw out the charges against him and release him immediately on bail. However, a day later, his defence submitted a letter stating that Gupta did not wish to move forward with the self-filed motion, which was accepted by the court.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More