Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who was last month extradited to United States from Czech Republic, was reportedly assaulted by a fellow prisoner, sources close to the family told the Daily Guardian.
The said incident, in which Gupta was punched and assaulted, took place on Monday. Gupta, who has been arrested by U.S officials for his alleged role in the assassination attempt on Khalistani terrorist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, , has been kept in a solitary confinement after the alleged assault, according to sources aware of the matter.
Speaking to the Daily Guardian , officials at Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn ,New York City, where Gupta has been kept, denied reports of Gupta being assaulted.
Sources close to Gupta, however, told the Daily Guardian that he is not being allowed to speak to his family members after the beating and whatever miniscule information they have received was from their lawyer who too has reportedly been denied access to Gupta.
In an email response to the Daily Guardian, officials at MDC, Brooklyn said, “Due to our privacy policy, we are unable to provide you with information or discuss issues regarding the information you requested,” thereby neither denying nor confirming the incident of assault.
Similarly, in an email response to the Daily Guardian, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP), which is responsible for the prison and prisoners in U.S prisons, said that “it does not discuss internal security practices or the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual, and we cannot divulge whether a particular individual is the subject of allegations, investigations, or sanctions in prison”. It added that “the FBOP does not house incarcerated individuals in “solitary confinement”. Rather, the FBOP operates under the guiding principle that individuals should be housed in the least restrictive setting.
An individual’s removal from the general population may be warranted because continued placement in the general population poses a threat to self, employees, other incarcerated individuals, the public, and the secure orderly running of the institution. Individuals in restrictive housing are continuously monitored and reviewed to ensure that continued placement is necessary, including being seen by Medical and Mental Health employees daily. It is the practice of the FBOP to use restrictive housing only as necessary and they should only remain there for as long as needed to address the specific reason(s) for placement. The said prison is considered to be amongst the most unsafe prison in the country because of lack of adequate number of staff, something that had recently led to a U.S judge deciding not to send a convict to the said prison.
Lawyer of Gupta had on 28 June, during the court hearing, had requested the judge to move him to a different safe prison, but the said request was denied.