Myanmar Arms Training Case: In a major update in the Myanmar training camp case, Delhi's Rouse Avenue court on Friday allowed US mercenary Matthew Aaron VanDyke to travel to US till February 2027. Along with him, the special court also allowed the six Ukrainian nationals to stay out of India till the next hearing on February 24. Earlier, complying with the court's orders, VanDyke had returned from the US to appear before the court in the training case.

Earlier last month, VanDyke, along with other Ukrainian nationals, was granted default bail in the Myanmar arms training case. However, he was directed to co-operate with the officials and appear before the court on October 23.

Why VanDyke Was Ganted Bail? 

Earlier on September 18, the court had granted him bail after highlighting that the chargesheet filed by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) was incomplete and lacked key details. Earlier in March, VanDyke and six Ukrainian nationals were arrested by NIA, with allegations of providing drone training to Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups.

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However, after months of him being arrested, the special NIA court dropped provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and further provided him bail. The decision was heavily criticized by the opposition parties, especially Congress, accusing the centre of dropping certain serious charges to ensure his return to the US.

VanDyke, following his release, had to pay Rs 5.5 lakh to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to settle the alleged violations. The court had directed him to be available in online mode during the probe, further asking him to appear before the court on certain dates.

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What Are Charges Against Him?

The NIA accused VanDyke and Ukrainian nationals Maksym Honcharuk, Petro Hubra, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Taras Slyviak and Viktor Kaminskyi of carrying out illegal activities in the border regions. As per the agency, the accused entered to India on tourist visas and further crossed the border to train ethnic groups in Myanmar.