Seven foreigners face NIA charges
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against seven foreign nationals, including US citizen Matthew Aaron Van Dyke. They are accused of entering, staying and moving around India illegally. They face charges under Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act.
Although the case was first registered as a terror conspiracy with alleged links to ethnic armed groups, the agency did not invoke the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on the seven. The agency submitted the chargesheet before the court of the Special Judge Prashant Sharma.
It lists Van Dyke and six Ukrainian nationals: Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk, and Viktor Kaminskyi.
Van Dyke was arrested at Kolkata airport. Hurba, Slyviak, and Sukmanovskyi were detained at Lucknow airport on March 13, while Stefankiv, Honcharuk, and Kaminskyi were arrested at Delhi airport the same day. Investigators have called the group alleged mercenaries.
The case was first registered under Section 18 of the UAPA, which covers conspiracy, as well as parts of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
In the chargesheet filed on Tuesday, the agency said much of the investigation into UAPA offences is done, but it still needs more time. This is because they are looking into the import and recovery of many drones and accessories sent through India, and they are still examining a large number of seized digital devices.
The chargesheet noted that further investigation could “indicate their possible involvement in acts affecting/threatening the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India or strike terror in any section of the people of India in a manner affecting India’s interests.” The NIA requested the court’s permission to continue investigating under Section 193(9) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita so that “all the aspects of the larger conspiracy” involving the accused and others can be uncovered.
Ukrainian nationals entered India in December 2025 after obtaining tourist visas. They later crossed the Myanmar border and reached Victoria Camp to provide training to Ethnic Armed Groups of Myanmar. Before leaving Indian territory, they travelled to Guwahati on different dates and stayed in different hotels.
Investigators said the accused planned their movement in India and Myanmar “in such a way that it does not seem suspicious to anybody.”
The NIA said the men were arrested to investigate the larger conspiracy and to look into their possible links with Indian insurgent groups in the northeast. The use of tourist visas, hotel stays in Guwahati, crossing into Myanmar, alleged training of armed groups, and the recovery of drones and electronic devices have kept the terror angle in focus, even though the first chargesheet only covers immigration offences.
Meanwhile, forensic checks of seized devices and investigations into drone shipments are ongoing. Officials say these findings will determine if the foreigners are later charged under the anti-terror law.
