With the next hearing in an alleged conspiracy case involving seven foreign nationals who trained ethnic militias in Myanmar after travelling there via India scheduled for Friday, all eyes are on whether US national Mathew Aaron VanDyke will return to India.
People close to VanDyke, who did not want to be named, said he would return to India and join the court proceedings on Friday since he had already booked his return ticket from the US. However, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, is waiting for a confirmation from VanDyke.
“He is expected to come back and attend the next court date - set on Friday,” one of them said.
Also read | No UAPA in NIA chargesheet against US national VanDyke, his Ukrainian associates arrested in India
HT is trying to get in touch with VanDyke’s family in the US.
VanDyke and six Ukrainian nationals – arrested in March this year under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA that were later dropped by the agency in its charge sheet filed in September – were allowed by a Delhi court to return to their countries in the last week of September for a month on a condition that they will rejoin the investigations. The seven accused were only charged under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, which is a compounding offence, by NIA in its charge sheet.
The federal agency did not press for their physical presence in India despite keeping its UAPA probe against them open, and agreed on their travel back home after they furnished personal undertakings, and provided their residential address and contact details.
Also read | NIA did not press for US national VanDyke, 6 Ukrainians to stay in India; UAPA probe stays open
VanDyke was arrested on March 13 at Kolkata airport under section 18 of the UAPA, which relates to conspiracy, advocacy, abetment or incitement to commit a terrorist act. The six Ukrainians – Hurba Petro, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk and Viktor Kaminskyi – were arrested at Delhi and Lucknow airports the same day.
NIA had earlier alleged the seven accused had illegally entered Myanmar through Mizoram without valid travel documents and participated in a pre-scheduled training programme for Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups targeting the Myanmar military junta.
The US national is being represented by advocates Rohit Gour and Rohit Dandriyal. They are yet to comment on his return.
NIA has alleged that for nearly three months, the seven accused imparted training in drone warfare, drone operations, assembly and jamming technology to members of Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups, including the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
It has also claimed that VanDyke and others received logistical support from the members of CNF and the mission was financed through funds arranged by a commander of a Myanmar-based rebel group.
NIA has so far not commented on the return of the accused to their countries.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More