Washington, DC [US], May 10 (HBTV): Stating that the investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an ongoing legal matter, the US State Department said it "won't speak" until "allegations are proved" before a jury.  

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who 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.     

Miller's remarks came in response to a media query on Pannun's case investigation. Notably, a Czech court has ruled that Prague can extradite to the United States the 52-year-old Indian, Nikhil Gupta, who is accused by the United States of involvement in the alleged attempt to kill Sikh separatist leader Pannun, a Czech-based media outlet Seznam Zpravy reported, citing judicial database Infosoud.  

As per the US Justice Department indictment, Indian national Nikhil Gupta is currently in custody and has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, 2023, under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.   

The US Justice Department had claimed that an Indian government employee, who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, had recruited Indian national Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to allegedly assassinate Panun, which was foiled by US authorities.  

The External Affairs Ministry too, in April, had rejected a report in The Washington Post naming Indian Research and Analysis Wing official's involvement in the alleged plot to kill Pannun in the US.   

Describing it as an "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputation on a "serious matter" that is under investigation, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the US media report was "speculative and irresponsible."   

India has also set up a high-level committee to investigate the matter. 

Moreover, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that Washington has not yet provided any reliable evidence of the involvement of Indian citizens in the case. 

(ANI) This is a syndicated news feed. HBTV has edited it for clarity.