Court grants default bail to six Ukrainians arrested for suspected links with Myanmar armed groups

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted default bail to six Ukrainians who were arrested by the National Investigation Agency in March for allegedly having links to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar that are hostile to India, PTI reported.

Default bail is granted when an investigating agency fails to complete its probe and file a chargesheet within the statutory period while an accused is in custody.

On Friday, the court granted default bail to Matthew Aaron Van Dyke, a United States citizen who is also accused in the case.

The seven foreigners were allegedly involved in supplying weapons and military equipment to ethnic armed groups operating in Myanmar, as well as providing them with training.

On September 8, the NIA filed a chargesheet against them for illegally entering, staying and moving in India under the 2025 Immigration and Foreigners Act.

Although they had been arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the agency had only accused them of immigration violations in the chargesheet.

Special NIA Judge Prashant Sharma on Wednesday discharged the six Ukrainians under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, noting that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office had compounded the offences against them by imposing a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh on each, reported PTI.

Compounding of offences is a legal settlement mechanism where an accused person pays a specific...

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