NEW DELHI, SEP 18 (AGENCIES): The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday granted bail to Matthew Aaron VanDyke, a US national accused of coming to India to train ethnic groups in the North-East.
Special Judge Prashant Sharma issued the bail order, directing his release upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the same amount.
Earlier, the court had issued a notice to the NIA on September 17. The NIA had filed a chargesheet on September 8, charging seven foreign nationals under sections of the Foreigners Act.
Apart from VanDyke, the accused include six Ukrainian nationals: Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksym Honcharuk, and Viktor Kaminskyi. While the NIA had initially registered an FIR under the UAPA in this case, UAPA charges were not included in the chargesheet; the agency stated it would file a supplementary charge sheet later.
Prior to this, on August 31, the High Court had dismissed a petition challenging the trial court’s order to extend the investigation period from 90 to 180 days.
These foreign nationals are accused of illegally entering Myanmar and accessing protected areas in Mizoram to establish contact with ethnic groups.
They face allegations of supplying illegal weapons, training ethnic groups, and assisting them in operating drones. According to the NIA, they arrived in India on visas and entered Mizoram, a protected area, before crossing into Myanmar to connect with ethnic militant groups. After receiving training in Myanmar themselves, they proceeded to train these ethnic militant groups, which are linked to insurgent groups active in India. It is also alleged that they brought a large consignment of drones from Europe.
