NIA says terror charges not dropped against seven foreigners, probe under anti-terror law continues

NEW DELHI: A day after the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) chargesheet drew criticism for omitting anti-terror provisions, it was clarified on Wednesday that it had not dropped terrorism-related charges against seven foreign nationals -- one American and six Ukrainians and its probe under the anti-terror law is continuing.

It is learnt that since the accused were due to complete 180 days in judicial custody on September 8 and would have become eligible for default bail if the chargesheet had not been filed, the agency filed the chargesheet without terror charges. NIA has reportedly conveyed, “The law also permits further investigation after filing of a chargesheet and the filing of a supplementary chargesheet where additional evidence establishes further offences.”

On Tuesday, NIA has not dropped terror charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against seven foreign nationals and had filed a chargesheet against US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and the six Ukrainians under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, as the offences under that law had been "fully established" during the investigation so far, the sources said.

The chargesheet states that they are accused of alleged passage through a restricted area. The agency has accused them only of offences relating to illegal entry, stay and movement in India. The maximum punishment under the UAPA is life imprisonment.

Matthew Van Dyke was arrested at Calcutta airport on March 11, while the Ukrainians were picked up from Delhi and Lucknow airports the day after.

Dyke’s family has reportedly urged the Donald Trump administration to intervene diplomatically in the issue to secure his release.

The NIA had earlier registered a case against the seven foreigners under the UAPA alleging that they entered India on tourist visas and were allegedly plotting terror activities against the country using drones from Europe.

The agency said the accused were being probed for a wide-ranging terror conspiracy, including assistance to ethnic armed groups in India and Myanmar, and imparting drone training to them.

The accused had travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit, crossed illegally into Myanmar, met ethnic armed groups and delivered multiple consignments of drones from Europe via India, the agency had alleged.

The agency further alleged that during their initial custody, the accused made “important disclosures” about the alleged conspiracy and had been in “direct touch” with terrorists “carrying AK-47 rifles”. It claimed to have gathered evidence during the probe, including material extracted from the accused’s seized mobile phones.

The phones were sent to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the country’s nodal agency for dealing with cyber security threats, for forensic examination.

Earlier, the Ukrainian embassy in Delhi had accused Russia of conducting a ‘disinformation operation’ on Indian soil by circulating what it described as fabricated claims regarding the arrest of six Ukrainian citizens and alleged Moscow was attempting to draw India into its geopolitical agenda.

Kyiv alleged that Moscow was orchestrating a sophisticated smear campaign by feeding Indian authorities fabricated intelligence regarding Ukrainian citizens.