US mercenary VanDyke, Ukrainians leave jail after NIA court permits 1 month home visit in the Myanmar training camp case

The court directed all the accusseds to return to India after the expiry of the permitted period and inform the court within 72 hours.

A special NIA court at Rouse Avenue on Thursday allowed US national Matthew Aaron Vandyke and six Ukrainian nationals arrested in the Myanmar training camp case in March, 2026 to travel to the USA and Ukraine, respectively, for one month to meet their families, subject to specified conditions and formalities.

NIA Judge Prashant Sharma allowed their applications seeking permission to travel abroad and the release of their passports. The court observed that the right to travel abroad is an extension of a fundamental right under the Constitution of India.

Directed to return after one month

The court permitted Vandyke to travel to the USA, while the six Ukrainian nationals were allowed to travel to Ukraine for one month. They have been directed to return to India after the expiry of the permitted period and inform the court within 72 hours.

The court also ordered the release of their passports and directed all seven accused to furnish their details within 24 hours.

The permission granted to Matthew Aaron Vandyke and his co-accused Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim alias Maksym and Kaminskyi Viktor is valid for one month only, to be calculated from the date they board their respective flights.

Must remain available to NIA

The court noted that the accused had shown their willingness to join the investigation whenever required by the NIA.

They have been directed to join the investigation through video call or physically, as demanded by the agency.

The accused must furnish their residential addresses, working mobile numbers and email addresses to the NIA within 24 hours. If any of them does not have a working phone number, they may provide the mobile number of a family member within the same period.

Once they reach their respective destinations, they must provide their working phone numbers within a week.

All seven granted default bail

All seven foreign nationals have been granted default bail by the court and are likely released from Tihar Jail on Thursday.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Rahul Tyagi, along with advocate Amit Rohila, appeared for the NIA. The agency submitted that further investigation was ongoing, but the immediate presence of the accused was not required. It also said that a suitable undertaking could be taken from them.

Advocates Rohit Dandriyal and Rohit Gour appeared for Vandyke and moved an application seeking his discharge from offences under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, in view of the compounding that took place on September 18. The court allowed the application.

(with ANI inputs)

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