NEW DELHI, Mar 17: In an operation looks like straight out of a film scene, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a US national, Matthew Aaron VanDyke, along with six Ukrainian citizens allegedly for entering Mizoram without the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) and then illegally crossing into Myanmar.
For entering most of India’s north-east states, Indians require the Inner-Line Permit (ILP) and foreigners mandatorily need the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) or the Protected-Area Permit.
The arrests were carried out across three airports — Kolkata, where VanDyke was apprehended, and Lucknow and Delhi, where three Ukrainian nationals were arrested at each location. The Ukrainian nationals were identified as: Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk, and Viktor Kaminskyi. The arrests occurred on Friday.
Matthew VanDyke first gained prominence during the 2011 Libyan Civil War. He has fought against the terror group IS in Iraq and also trained Ukrainians amid the war against Russia. The seven have been remanded to 11 days of NIA custody by a Special NIA Court at Patiala House Courts in Delhi on March 16, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
It is alleged by the NIA that the seven foreigners contacted ethnic armed groups (EAGs), and engaged in training activities. These EAGs, the NIA said in its FIR, were linked to insurgent organisations in the Northeast. The NIA has alleged that the group planned to supply weapons, train militants, and utilise drones imported from Europe to support training camps in Myanmar, focussing on drone warfare, operations, assembly, and jamming technology.
An American media personality, Matthew VanDyke wears multiple hats and is best known for being a mercenary. He also identifies as an international security analyst, combat veteran, documentary filmmaker, and founder of Sons of Liberty International (SOLI).
VanDyke while travelling in Libya in 2011 had joined rebel forces fighting against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime as a foreign fighter with the National Liberation Army. VanDyke has extensive experience in conflict zones. He fought against ISIS in Iraq, assisted uprisings in Syria, and joined Ukrainian forces against the Russian invasion starting in 2022.
He has conducted training programmes for Ukrainian civilians and military personnel in locations like Lviv and Kyiv, and released innovations such as counter-drone technologies for use in Ukraine. In the current NIA case that has linked him to activities in Myanmar that threaten Indian security, details are still under investigation.
(Manas Dasgupta)