The New Indian Express ·
NIA links foreign nationals arrested in India to Myanmar drone attack
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a Delhi court that seven foreign nationals arrested in March in a terror conspiracy case were involved in a drone attack on a civilian aircraft in Myanmar.
The NIA made the claim while seeking permission to interrogate US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and Ukrainian national Kaminskyi Viktor inside Tihar Jail. A Delhi court allowed the agency to question the two accused on September 2 and 3.
According to the NIA, the Centre received credible information indicating the involvement of certain Ukrainians and a US national in a drone attack on a civilian plane in Myanmar.
The agency said 14 Ukrainian nationals entered India on tourist visas on different dates and travelled to Guwahati before allegedly entering Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit (RAP) or Protected Area Permit (PAP). They allegedly crossed into Myanmar illegally to undergo pre-scheduled training in drone warfare, drone operations, assembly and jamming technology.
The NIA said the training was intended for Myanmar-based Ethnic Armed Groups (EAGs) targeting the country's military junta.
The agency has accused Van Dyke and Viktor of involvement in a terror conspiracy linked to ethnic armed groups operating in India and Myanmar.
Van Dyke was arrested on March 13 along with six Ukrainian nationals — Viktor, Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian and Honcharuk Maksim — after they allegedly infiltrated India from Myanmar through the Mizoram border before being intercepted at various domestic airports.
The group is being investigated for allegedly assisting ethnic armed groups in India and Myanmar and providing drone training to them.
On March 16, the court granted the NIA 11 days' custody of the accused. They were later remanded to judicial custody.