Two Years After Arrest in Prague, New Files Detail Nikhil Gupta’s First 24 Hours in Custody

New Delhi: Exactly two years ago today, 51-year-old Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta was arrested at Prague airport in a case that would ripple far beyond the Czech Republic.

Newly released Czech government documents, photographs, and US reports reviewed by The Wire reconstruct Gupta’s first 24 hours in custody, detailing his arrest, the questioning inside a Czech police vehicle, and prior coordination between the US and Czech authorities.

What began as a passport check of arriving passengers soon turned into a questioning in a darkened police vehicle, culminating into the first time a US court charged an Indian intelligence official in connection with an international murder-for-hire conspiracy.

This new trove of documents submitted by Gupta’s defence in a New York court was part of a motion to suppress evidence, challenging the use of data from his two iPhones and statements made to Czech and US officials immediately after his arrest. The trial will begin on November 3.

Gupta’s arrest became public only when the first indictment was unsealed in November 2023. It stated that Gupta had asked an associate, who turned out to be a DEA informant, to find a hitman to assassinate a lawyer in New York. 

The target has never been named in the court documents but was identified by media reports as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the Sikhs for Justice, a group proscribed in India.

The request was allegedly made on instructions from an Indian intelligence agent, initially identified only as ‘CC-1’. It was not until October 2024 that US prosecutors named ‘CC-1’ as Vikash Yadav.

Gupta believed 'confidential source is a Colombian cocaine supplier'

While the basic outline of Gupta’s arrest had been known, the new documents offer a far more detailed account of what happened behind the scenes.

The file includes covertly taken photographs of his arrival. In the first image, Gupta is seen at Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport, standing at the front of a line of passengers who appear to have just disembarked. Three officers in light blue shirts marked ‘Policie’ (police) are inspecting the group. Gupta is wearing a maroon T-shirt and dark slim-fit trousers, holding a phone in one hand and gripping the handle of a dark green cabin baggage, with a yellow travel pillow looped around it.

His passport appears to have been checked, as he stands ahead of the others near the officers. He is looking around but is not seen interacting directly with the police, suggesting he had been asked to wait.

In the next photo, he is gesturing with his right hand, possibly holding his passport, towards an officer who is not looking directly at him. His hands are cuffed down, and his mouth is open, as if he is in the middle of speaking.

Two and a half weeks earlier, a federal court in the Southern District of New York had issued an arrest warrant based on a sealed indictment. On June 19, 2023, the US Department of Justice sent a formal request to the Czech Ministry of Justice asking for Gupta’s arrest.

According to the request, the DEA’s confidential source had cultivated a relationship with Gupta over seven years. “Based on their relationship, the confidential source believes that Gupta is a firearms and narcotics trafficker. Gupta is under the impression that the confidential source is a Colombian cocaine supplier,” a DOJ official wrote.

There was no reference at that stage to Gupta’s links to any Indian government official. However, the letter noted that Gupta had allegedly asked for the murder to take place “on or about June 26, 2023, after the Indian Prime Minister’s Official State visit to the United States to avoid political upheaval and controversy during the Prime Minister’s visit”.

'America wanted him'

On the same day that the DOJ wrote to Czech authorities, Gupta shared a video of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, described as a “close associate of the intended victim”, with the undercover agent posing as a hitman. Nijjar had been killed outside a temple in British Columbia, Canada. Gupta reportedly told the agent that Nijjar “was a target that he had mentioned previously”.

“This strongly suggests that Gupta and/or persons working with Gupta were responsible for the associate’s murder,” the DOJ counsel wrote in June 2023. This was exactly three months before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused Indian government agents of possible involvement in Nijjar’s killing.

The letter goes on to state that US officials had confirmed Nikhil Gupta’s identity by matching his face during video calls with images from a law enforcement database.

In the identifying details listed for Gupta, two passports were recorded, one Indian and the other Pakistani, with the numbers redacted. Gupta’s defence team later argued in Czech courts that the arrest was a case of mistaken identity, on ground that he had a common name and had never held a Pakistani passport.

Another document submitted as part of the defence’s motion is a report filed by DEA special agent Mark Franks who, along with a colleague, task force officer Jose Sandobal, had travelled to Prague for Gupta’s arrest. The report was filed 12 days after the arrest in Prague.

On the day of Gupta’s arrival, the two US agents met with officers of the Czech Republic’s National Drug Headquarters (NDH) and accompanied them to the airport, but waited outside in the van.

Czech police records show that Gupta had been travelling on a Swiss visa issued on June 10. His arrest was officially logged at 6:33 PM local time on June 30, 2023.

According to Gupta’s lawyers, he was taken to a windowless private room at the airport and strip-searched. He was then asked to provide the unlock codes for an iPhone 11 Pro Max and an iPhone 14 Pro Max, which he did. A third phone, a Samsung Vivo, was reportedly not locked. A video of Gupta giving the passcodes to Czech police was recorded.

While the US agents remained outside, a Czech officer informed Gupta in English that “America wanted him”, though the charges were not specified. He was then handcuffed, presumably when his photograph was taken.

Gupta first spoke with the US officers after being brought into the van.

'Nobody from Gujarat police is calling'

One of them later told a Department of Justice lawyer that they had only “10-15 minutes to interview Gupta.” This was mentioned in an email summarising the prosecutor’s notes from a verbal conversation with the two DEA officers.

According to those notes, one of the agents recalled that “the first thing that Gupta said was, in substance, ‘I want to cooperate. Take me to America and I’ll cooperate right now with you guys’.”

The official DEA report stated that Gupta was read his rights during the drive and agreed to speak with the agents. Gupta told them, as per this report, that in 2021 he had been summoned in a robbery case. Suggesting he had been framed, Gupta reportedly said he “did not understand why as he was not in the country,” but added that “this was not unusual as India’s police force is corrupt.”

Gupta said that while trying to quietly resolve the matter, he received a call from someone identifying himself as ‘Amanat’ who offered to help. They met soon after. According to the superseding indictment filed in October 2024, ‘Amanat’ was the alias used by Vikash Yadav.

In the first indictment unsealed in November 2023, Yadav, then referred to only as ‘CC-1’, was recorded as telling Gupta in two separate conversations in May that his case “had already been taken care of” and that “nobody from Gujarat police is calling”.

During the van ride through Prague, Gupta described ‘Amanat’ as tall, possibly in his forties, and “possibly from India or Pakistan”. He said the man had worn a mask, glasses, a hat and long sleeves.

A photo submitted by Gupta’s defence shows the iPhone contact record for ‘Amanat’, taken in a dimly-lit setting. According to the US prosecutor’s notes, the image was taken by DEA Special Agent Franks.

As per Gupta’s lawyers, the phones were provided by one of the five Czech officers who were also in the van.

On the Advice of Right form that waives of right to attorney, Gupta wrote ‘refused’ under his name, reportedly because he was not allowed to make a phone call. Czech police informed him he would be allowed to call later. The form is dated June 30, 2023, at 6:48 PM.

One of the DEA agents later told a US prosecutor, “Gupta started very cooperative but later soured; don’t think he liked me.”

Gupta’s defence team, however, contended that he was never informed of his rights during the van ride. They also disputed the claim that the ride was a short one, alleging it was significantly longer than described.

'Incredible work'

Despite the ‘brief’ questioning, US investigators were pleased with the initial interaction but wary of Gupta’s responses. The screenshot of a text conversation of the US investigators and prosecutors from June 30, 2023, showed scepticism. After a US attorney asked whether Gupta was talking, the DEA agent replied, “We had limited time. He did but he was playing f*** games. We think that he will ultimately cooperate. We can fill you in more.”

“Congratulations guys – really incredible work,” US Attorney Fletcher responded.

Task Force officer Sandobal noted that three phones had been seized and that Gupta had provided the unlock codes to the Czech police.

In February 2024, Gupta’s Czech lawyers had formally asked the municipal prosecutor’s office whether any US officials were present in the police vehicle and whether they accessed Gupta’s phones. The response, received three days later, stated that Czech police records did not show DEA agents being present during the arrest, interrogation, or handling of the seized items.

Still, by early September 2023, the FBI had obtained the data on the phones.

The FBI had already got their hands on Gupta’s phones in September 2023, as seen by the extraction report dated September 5 included in the court documents. The heavily redacted FBI analysis documents screenshots of a message from Yadav to Gupta to move to Signal on May 23 at 5.08 PM, as well as two Signal messages. However, as per records, the phones were physically handed over by the Czech Republic to the US only later in the month.

After the van ride ended on June 30, Gupta was taken to a police holding cell. But, his day had not yet ended.

At 8:58 PM, Gupta signed a form acknowledging the surrender of the three phones. 

The formal Czech police interrogation began at 9:44 PM. According to the recordings, Gupta stated that he had come to the Czech Republic “for leisure.” However, US prosecutors claimed he had been asked to travel to Prague by the DEA informant for a meeting. Gupta also mentioned he had considered cancelling his trip due to “significant liver pain” and requested that the Indian embassy be informed of his detention.

Gupta reportedly consented to the extradition, as per the records, but later, his lawyers withdrew it, noting that he had been very tired at that time. He signed his statement at 9:53 PM.

The next day, Gupta was produced for a detention hearing before a judge at 1:45 PM.

According to the authorised English translation of the Czech court minutes, Gupta, after consulting his lawyer, expressed willingness to cooperate fully with both Czech and US authorities. He even offered to travel to the US voluntarily by purchasing his own ticket.

Curiously, the same translated court record notes Gupta’s request to notify “my son in India and my son in Pakistan,” as well as the Indian Embassy in Prague. This is the only mention of a “son in Pakistan” in the entire record, and neither side referenced it again, suggesting a possible translation error.

The hearing lasted 46 minutes, after which Gupta was returned to his holding cell.

The formal extradition process began with a US request dated August 3, 2023, which included sworn affidavits from the US prosecutor and a DEA special agent. After moving through various levels of the Czech judiciary, the constitutional court gave the final go-ahead, and Gupta was extradited on June 14, 2024.

Gupta now awaits trial in a federal prison in New York. Meanwhile, the fate of Vikash Yadav remains unclear. After Yadav was named in court documents, India’s external affairs ministry stated that he was “no longer an employee of the Government of India.”

In January this year, following an internal investigation, the Indian government said it had “recommended legal action against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the enquiry.” 

Yadav’s current whereabouts are unknown.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.