New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested seven foreign nationals, including an American, on the charge of conspiring to carry out terrorist activities against India, ThePrint has learnt.
The US citizen and the remaining six Ukrainian nationals were taken into custody on Friday after they were booked under relevant charges, including under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, sources aware of the case details said.
Sharing an over 500-km-long border with Myanmar, specifically along the Chin State, Mizoram is a restricted area for foreign nationals, who have to get a restricted area permit from the Foreigners Registration Office (FRO).
The sources said that according to the FIR, these men landed in Mizoram before crossing the border into Myanmar, where they allegedly met some ethnic group members with interests that are “inimical” to India. Additionally, the accused are said to have got drones delivered in Mizoram from Europe, before taking them across the border.
It was not immediately known when they entered India before entering Myanmar and returning.
The FIR was filed Friday evening, shortly before they were arrested at their locations, they said.
The foreigners were produced before a duty magistrate on Saturday, who sent them to custody for three days, followed by another round of court hearings on Monday. They have been sent to custody of the NIA for 11 days, the sources added.
“They were arrested at the airports of Lucknow, Delhi and Kolkata during their attempted return from India,” a source privy to the case details told ThePrint.
The source, however, refused to share further details about their identities, as well as the specific charges against them.
Multiple phone calls and WhatsApp messages to the NIA spokesperson went unanswered.
According to senior advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, who appeared for all the accused, the arrests were illegal and the NIA did not comply with the Vienna Convention’s rules. He argued before the court that there was no case made out against the accused.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Tony Rai)