Matthew VanDyke was arrested along with six Ukrainians for crossing over to Myanmar to allegedly train militant ethnic groups
A US national arrested along with six Ukrainians by India’s anti-terror agency for allegedly providing terror training to armed groups in neighboring Myanmar, was granted bail by a Delhi court on Friday.
The court granted the bail after the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which arrested them in March, failed to file a chargesheet on the terror charges within the mandatory 180-day period. The judge said that the agency’s chargesheet, which contained only sections relating to immigration, was a “piecemeal” job, according to the Bar and Bench website which reports on court proceedings.
That the agency is still investigating the offenses under the more stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, does not mean that VanDyke is not entitled to default bail, Special NIA Judge Prashant Sharma said.
He added that all the other co-accused persons in the case are also entitled to default bail, if they apply for it.
VanDyke is the founder of Sons of Liberty International, which provides military training in conflict zones. He has reportedly been involved in conflicts in the past, including fighting with Libyan rebels in 2011.
The Ukrainians arrested with VanDyke are Viktor Kaminskyi, Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, and Maksim Honcharuk. The NIA had accused them of entering the restricted areas in India’s northeast without permits, and crossing over to Myanmar to impart terror training to ethnic groups there.
The agency had previously told the court it had found evidence that multiple consignments of drones from Europe were delivered by the accused to individuals and groups in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, and that they were involved in a drone strike on a Burmese civilian plane.
The seven were arrested from different cities while trying to fly out of India.
The court said that while on bail, VanDyke must stay in Delhi and appear before the NIA whenever required. He will be released on a personal bond of about $1,000 and a surety of the same amount.
