NIA drops UAPA charges against 7 foreigners, Oppn alleges US pressure

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has dropped charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against seven foreign nationals accused of training anti-India armed groups in Myanmar, drawing sharp criticism from Opposition parties, which alleged that the Modi government had “succumbed to American pressure” while people facing what they described as “patently false charges” remained in jail for years.

In its first chargesheet in the case, the agency has charged six Ukrainian nationals and one US citizen only under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. The NIA has informed the court that a supplementary chargesheet could be filed if further investigation establishes offences under the UAPA.

The development comes weeks after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor raised the arrest of US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Delhi in May.

Van Dyke was arrested by the NIA at Kolkata airport on March 13. Six Ukrainian nationals, Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim and Kaminskyi Viktor were also arrested at airports in Delhi and Lucknow in connection with the case.

According to the NIA, the accused entered India on tourist visas and travelled to the northeastern region without obtaining the required permits before allegedly crossing illegally from Mizoram into Myanmar. The agency alleged that they subsequently trained members of ethnic armed organisations there.

The NIA had initially invoked provisions of the UAPA, including sections relating to conspiracy, during its investigation into the alleged cross-border network. During earlier hearings, the agency claimed that the accused had made significant disclosures about the alleged conspiracy while in custody. It also alleged that they were involved in assembling equipment and had targeted a passenger aircraft in Myanmar.

However, the first chargesheet does not include any UAPA provisions. Instead, the accused have been charged under Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. These offences are compoundable before the Foreigners Regional Registration Office.

Special Public Prosecutor Rahul Tyagi told the court that the NIA had not invoked the UAPA in the chargesheet, but said the investigation was continuing and that a supplementary chargesheet could be filed if further offences were established.

Van Dyke is the founder of Sons of Liberty International (SOLI), a nonprofit organisation that provides military training and support in conflict zones. He has previously been involved in conflicts in Libya and Ukraine and has worked as a security analyst and documentary filmmaker.

Born in Baltimore, Van Dyke has a background in political science and security studies and previously worked as a documentary filmmaker and war correspondent across the Middle East and North Africa.

He fought alongside rebel forces during the 2011 Libya uprising, where he was captured and held as a prisoner of war for nearly six months before escaping. He later trained forces in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and reportedly conducted covert operations supporting opposition groups in Venezuela.

Van Dyke’s lawyers, Rohit Dandriyal and Rohit Gour, said their client had spent more than 180 days in custody before the chargesheet was filed without the UAPA allegations.

They said the NIA had obtained an additional 90 days on June 4 to complete its investigation, taking the total permissible period to 180 days.

On Tuesday, at the end of that period, the agency filed the chargesheet against Van Dyke under the Immigration and Foreigners Act instead of the serious UAPA offences under which he was initially arrested.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi accused the Modi government of “succumbing to American pressure” and questioned why the UAPA charges mentioned in the FIR were not included in the NIA’s chargesheet.

He said the development suggested that “a foreign govt can pressurise Modi into dropping terror charges”, while thousands of people facing what he called “patently false charges” remained in jail for years.

Referring to activist Stan Swamy, Owaisi said, “Maybe if Stan Swamy was an American citizen, he’d still have been alive,” and described the government as “servile abroad and haughty at home.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned whether the NIA dropped the charges after a proper investigation or was “pressurised” by the Modi government at the instance of US authorities.

He also questioned what “quid pro quo” India expected in return and said, “This appears to be bullying.”

AAP leader Manish Sisodia said either the terrorism allegations were “hollow from the very start” or the Modi government had “once again bowed to American pressure”. He asked whether the case concerned “national security” or “political horse-trading in the name of foreign policy”.

Meanwhile, when a journalist asked MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal whether India had given any assurances to the US after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador Sergio Gor raised the arrest of American national Matthew Van Dyke, Jaiswal said, “This is a legal matter. It will proceed as per the direction of the court.”