NIA Files First Charge Sheet Against Ukrainians, US National Without UAPA Charges
NIA charges six Ukrainians and a US national under immigration law, not UAPA, in first charge sheet over alleged Myanmar training links.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed its first charge sheet against six Ukrainian citizens and a US national arrested in March for allegedly training anti-India armed groups in Myanmar, but has not invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Instead, the accused have been charged only with violations of immigration law, the agency told a special court on Tuesday.
The charge sheet, submitted in a special court, names the six Ukrainians — Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor — along with US citizen Matthew Aaron Van Dyke. Van Dyke was arrested at Kolkata airport on March 13, while the Ukrainians were picked up at airports in Delhi and Lucknow.
The NIA had initially invoked UAPA provisions, including those related to conspiracy, during its investigation into the alleged cross-border network. The agency alleged that the accused entered India on tourist visas, travelled to the northeast without mandatory permits, and crossed illegally from Mizoram into Myanmar, where they trained ethnic armed organisations. During earlier hearings, the NIA claimed the accused had made significant disclosures and were involved in assembling equipment, and had even targeted a passenger aircraft in Myanmar.
However, in the charge sheet filed on Tuesday, the agency invoked only Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 — both compoundable offences at the level of the Foreigners Regional Registration Office. Special Public Prosecutor Rahul Tyagi informed the court that the investigation is ongoing and a supplementary charge sheet may be filed if an offence under UAPA is made out.
The development comes weeks after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor raised Van Dyke's arrest with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Delhi in May.
Lawyers for Van Dyke, Rohit Dandriyal and Rohit Gour, noted that their client spent over 180 days in custody before the charge sheet was filed without UAPA charges. They pointed out that on June 4, 2026, the NIA sought and obtained a 90-day extension for investigation, taking the total period to 180 days. On September 8, 2026, at the end of that extended period, the agency filed the charge sheet under the Foreigners Act rather than the serious UAPA allegations initially levelled.
Counsel questioned what evidence emerged after nearly 180 days of investigation to substantiate the original allegations. "The State has every right to investigate, but investigation cannot become a substitute for evidence, and incarceration cannot become a punishment before guilt is established," they said, adding that keeping a person behind bars for 180 days on allegations that do not culminate in the same serious offences raises questions about personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.