Court allows US mercenary VanDyke, 6 Ukrainians to stay abroad till Feb 24

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday allowed American mercenary Matthew Aaron VanDyke to travel to the United States and extended permission for six Ukrainian nationals to remain outside India until February 24.Special judge Prashant Sharma passed the order while hearing applications moved by the seven foreign nationals.VanDyke, along with the six Ukrainians, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in March 2026 for allegedly providing weapons and drone-warfare training to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar.The court's decision came after the central probing agency submitted that it needed more time to investigate several aspects of the case.

Its counsel, Rahul Tyagi, made submissions to this effect.Speaking to PTI outside the courtroom, VanDyke questioned the continuation of the case against him."There's no reason for it to continue. If not, I'll stay in India. Until this is over," he said.VanDyke, who was granted default bail last month, had returned to India to appear before the court and seek an extension of the permission granted to him to travel abroad.

In September, the court had allowed him to travel to the US for a month to meet his family, subject to the condition that he return to India and appear before it.The US national also said he had removed his lawyer due to financial difficulties.

"I don't have any comments on the case. It's all ongoing. Especially now that I'm my own lawyer. I don't want to talk about it. There is a money issue. That's the main issue," he said.The NIA had alleged that VanDyke and the six Ukrainian nationals entered India on tourist visas, travelled to the northeastern region without mandatory permits and subsequently crossed from Mizoram into Myanmar, where they allegedly trained ethnic armed organisations.The agency had initially invoked provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), including those relating to conspiracy.It had also alleged that the accused disclosed details about the network and were involved in assembling equipment and targeting a passenger aircraft in Myanmar.However, in its charge sheet, the NIA did not invoke the UAPA provisions and instead proceeded under Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, which provide for offences that can be compounded before the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).The agency had earlier indicated that its investigation into the alleged terror-related aspects was continuing and that further allegations could be included in a supplementary charge sheet.