A New York federal judge on January 8 asked prosecutors to present evidence supporting their allegations against Gupta while hearing the plea to extradite him. Gupta is being held in a Czech prison at the instance of US agencies which have accused him of plotting a hit on Pannun. Last November, US law enforcement authorities had announced the filing of “murder-for-hire” charges against Gupta aka Nick and claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate Pannun.