NEW DELHI: ‘I am an innocent man who has been framed,’ says Nikhil Gupta, who is in a US prison, in the first ever interview to a media outlet. He also claims that the case was meant to affect elections in India.
Indian national Nikhil Gupta was detained in Prague in June last year by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and extradited to New York later for his alleged involvement in the assassination plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has been proscribed in India since 2019.
Gupta, locked in a US prison, answered The Sunday Guardian’s questions through an intermediary last week in his first ever interview to a media outlet, as he awaits the trial in his case to begin on 13 September.
Gupta’s response brings out how an ordinary citizen has been abandoned even as he faces the entire might of the US political and administrative dispensation, which, as per him, is harassing an innocent man to pander to the Khalistani community.
Q: You have been in the United States for over a month now and away from your family for over a year. How difficult has this whole phase been?
A: It’s very difficult. After coming to the US, it has become even harder. This is a slaughterhouse, not a jail. Everyone knows about the torture that happened with me in Prague. Here, it’s a complete slaughterhouse. The jail where I am held, MDC Brooklyn, is always in the news headlines for its poor safety conditions.
Just last week, someone was stabbed in the cell across the one from mine. In the last two months alone, there have been four murders and 25 stabbings here. It’s very hard to live here. I had requested the officials and judge to move me to a different place, but my request was not accepted. I was also assaulted some days ago. I have put forth multiple requests for the appointment of a public defender to represent me, since our savings have been spent on the legal fees that I had to incur in Czech and the US. I am still waiting for a response on that.
I only have the prayers of my fellow Indians; otherwise, I have no other support.
Q: Not much is known about you apart from what the US indictment has mentioned and what the US media reports have written about you. Who is Nikhil Gupta?
A: I have always been a businessman. I have been involved in various small businesses. I have worked in mining, silica sand, non-ferrous metal import, brass handicrafts, and marble export. I have never been involved in any illegal or unlawful activities. My profile, income tax returns, and Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), which have been issued and verified by the Government of India, will attest to these facts.
Q. You have pleaded not guilty in this high-profile case. Are you arguing that they have the wrong man in custody?
A: I am not that person. There is no actual case against me. All of it is fabricated and politically motivated. It was only meant to affect the elections in India. The US has targeted a specific community, using a “divide and rule” strategy. They tried to exploit this situation in India and also capitalize on it in the USA because the Sikh community is quite large and influential here as well.
I am not the person that they are accusing me of. Initially, they said I was a drug trafficker and a firearms dealer. Then they shifted to brand me as a murder-for-hire. After that, they changed their story again and then they changed it a fourth time. This is all mischief and their allegations have no basis. They are playing dirty games, influencing everything, and buying people with money and power. Whether it’s through power or money, they want people to comply with their directions.
Q: Have you met any Indian Central government officials involved in security or intelligence during your time in India as the FBI and Department of Justice (DoJ) has alleged?
A: I used to meet around 100 people daily for my business. This is a part of my own trade; we go out and interact with many people. If someone among them is a person whose identity I do not know and later it turns out that he was an undercover agent or a government employee, how would I know? I have never knowingly met anyone like that. I do not know anyone who is referred to as CC-1 (meaning co-conspirator-1 in the indictment). Before this entire thing happened, I was discussing with some friends about forming a group and entering the real estate sector. Some friends introduced me to new people who were interested in investing or doing something similar. Thus, I met many new people in connection with my business.
Q: Did you have any criminal cases filed against you in any part of India as claimed by the FBI and DoJ?
A: Not in any part of India nor in any other country—there hasn’t been any criminal or even civil case filed against me. I am just an honest tax-paying normal citizen like you and the readers of this interview.
Q: How have the officials treated you in the US? You are housed in one of the most unsafe prisons in the country, according to an assessment made by their own court.
A: The treatment from the officials is such that they expect me to agree with whatever they say. They have a hundred ways to make anyone comply through force, intimidation and dirty tactics. That’s why I am being kept here. They want me to admit that there is some CC-1, they want me to accept the name that they are giving me and to make statements as they want me for their story. This is their dirty game. Since I don’t know anyone, how can I provide any information or accept what they are asking me to?
Q: Are you receiving the legal remedies that any accused person deserves?
A: I haven’t received any legal support anywhere, not even moral support. The media reports that I get from India claim various things, but there is no support at all. Only the prayers of my fellow Indians have kept me alive in this condition, far away from my family and friends, and in an extremely hostile environment. I am hopeful that the Indian bureaucracy and the government will do something to help me.
Q: Many in India believe you are being used by vested interests outside of India for a larger global goal directed against India. Do you agree with this?
A: I completely agree. This is also my opinion. I had mentioned this in my submission to the Prague court. They told me that such political statements should not be made here. This is on record. You can check this by going through the case records related to the hearing that was done on 7 November 2023. I spoke in Hindi, and the judge responded in Czech. I am being used as a global tool for a larger agenda, which is to defame India. My family and I have become entangled in this big game. I am being used as a pawn.
Q: Do you have anything to say to the Government of India?
A: It has been over a year since I last met my family. During this time, even phone conversations that I have are disconnected abruptly. I have been kept in solitary confinement, treated like an animal. I am more concerned about my family than myself. I am worried about how they are managing over there. Our Hindi movies used to show that those closest to you are the first to abandon you in times of need and crisis. Now I have experienced this first-hand.
I and my family members have been left to face this all alone. Nobody has visited my family or responded to the multiple letters and emails that have been sent by my mother and children nor have I received any support. We are completely in the dark. This has become a political issue, I would not like to say more.
I and my family members are expecting assistance from the Government of India, because I am an innocent man who has been wrongly framed.