India’s NIA drops terror charges against US citizen and 6 Ukrainians over Myanmar drone training

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has dropped stringent terror provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in its chargesheet filed against American security analyst Matthew Aaron VanDyke and six Ukrainian nationals accused of training Myanmar ethnic armed groups.,In the chargesheet submitted before Special Judge Prashant Sharma at New Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Courts on Tuesday, the NIA invoked only Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, which cover illegal entry, unauthorized movement in protected border zones, and visa non-compliance.,Special Public Prosecutor Rahul Tyagi informed the court that while the current filing focuses on compoundable immigration offenses, the agency’s UAPA probe remains open for further investigation into digital forensics and drone hardware recoveries.,The case stems from the arrests of VanDyke—founder of the security firm Sons of Liberty International—and Ukrainian citizens Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor in March.,Indian authorities initially booked the group under Section 18 of the UAPA for allegedly running terror camps and conspiring to support anti-India insurgent networks.,VanDyke was intercepted at Kolkata Airport on March 13, while the Ukrainian nationals were detained at airports in Delhi and Lucknow after returning from Myanmar.,According to NIA filings, the seven foreign nationals entered India on valid travel documents in December 2025 before traveling through Assam to Mizoram State without obtaining mandatory Protected Area Permits.,Hiring local transport, the group crossed the Tiau River into Myanmar’s Chin State to reach the Chin National Front (CNF) headquarters at Camp Victoria.,There, they allegedly conducted pre-scheduled training for Myanmar ethnic armed groups in drone warfare, flight operations, aerial assembly, and signal-jamming technology, while facilitating the transport of European drone equipment across the border.,Defense attorneys strongly criticized the NIA’s initial posture following the omission of anti-terror charges after nearly 180 days of pre-trial detention.,Rohit Dandriyal, representing VanDyke, argued that keeping his client incarcerated on fictitious UAPA allegations without supporting evidence raises severe questions regarding personal liberty, while Nitin Saluja, counsel for the Ukrainian nationals, stated the revised chargesheet vindicates his clients’ innocence.,Concurrently, VanDyke’s family issued an urgent public appeal requesting U.S. diplomatic intervention to secure his release, as the special court scheduled the chargesheet for formal consideration on Oct. 1.,The post India’s NIA drops terror charges against US citizen and 6 Ukrainians over Myanmar drone training appeared first on DVB.