New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency has made a major disclosure before a Delhi court linking seven foreign nationals lodged in Tihar Jail to a drone attack on a civilian aircraft in Myanmar. The agency identified the accused as American mercenary Matthew Aaron VanDyke and six Ukrainian nationals who were arrested in March this year from airports in Kolkata, Lucknow and Delhi for carrying out ter ror-related activities.
According to the NIA application filed before the court, the Centre received credible information about the involvement of 14 Ukrainians and a US national in the drone strike. The group had entered India on tourist visas on different dates, flown to Guwahati in Assam and then moved to Mizoram without obtaining the mandatory Restricted Area Permit or Protected Area Permit. From Mizoram they illegally entered Myanmar.
The agency claimed the foreigners had gone to Myanmar to undergo scheduled training in drone warfare, drone assembly, operations and jamming technology. The training was meant for Myanmar based Ethnic Armed Groups fighting the military junta. The NIA further alleged that these Ethnic Armed Groups have links with insurgent organisations operating in Northeast India.
The NIA sought permission from the court to interview VanDyke and Ukrainian national Kaminskyi Viktor inside Tihar Jail to confront them with digital evidence. The court allowed the application on August 31, observing that there is no specific law or judgment that bars such interrogation and courts should ordinarily not interfere with an ongoing investigation. The defence had opposed the plea stating it lacked legal and factual reasoning.
Investigators said scrutiny of data extracted from devices seized from the accused revealed incriminating material in the form of images, videos and voice samples. The agency said this material needs to be corroborated with their statements as part of the investigation. The case is being probed for larger conspiracy involving foreign mercenaries, drone technology transfer and support to armed groups along the India Myanmar border.
In a separate plea earlier, VanDyke had approached the Delhi court seeking permission to cook his own meals inside Tihar Jail. He claimed he was unable to eat for over a month due to spicy and oily prison food and requested an American style diet including pasta, toned milk, olive oil, red meat, chicken and fish.
The NIA said further investigation is underway to trace the remaining eight Ukrainians who had entered India as part of the group and to establish the full chain of the drone attack conspiracy.
