US national Mathew VanDyke, who was previously permitted to return to his home country for a month, has returned to India and appeared before a Delhi court. According to officials familiar with the matter, the court had directed VanDyke to make an appearance within 72 hours of his return.
While VanDyke complied with the directive and completed legal formalities at the court, the six Ukrainian nationals arrested alongside him on March 13 have not yet returned to India.
Legal Background and Chargesheet Updates
Last month, a Delhi court granted VanDyke and the six Ukrainian co-accused permission to return to their respective home countries on the strict condition that they would rejoin the ongoing investigation.
The seven individuals were initially arrested under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). However, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) subsequently dropped the UAPA charges in its chargesheet filed in September, opting instead to charge them under the compounding offenses of the Immigration and Foreigners Act. Following this, VanDyke paid the required compounding fees and secured default bail. The NIA stated last month that its broader investigation under the UAPA remains active.
The six Ukrainian co-accused are identified as Hurba Petro, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk, and Viktor Kaminskyi.
Allegations of Drone Warfare Training in Myanmar
According to the NIA, the accused individuals illegally crossed into Myanmar from Mizoram without valid travel documentation to participate in pre-scheduled training programs for ethnic armed groups fighting the Myanmar military junta.
Investigators alleged that over a nearly three-month period, VanDyke and the others trained members of groups like the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in drone warfare, operations, assembly, and jamming technology. Furthermore, the NIA claimed the operation received logistical backing from CNF members and financial support arranged by a rebel group commander in Myanmar.
