A US national arrested in India for allegedly training armed ethnic militias in neighbouring Myanmar claimed he was repeatedly assaulted during nearly six months in a Delhi jail and denied medical care.
Matthew VanDyke made the allegations in a handwritten affidavit sent to the US embassy in August, two weeks before the Indian anti-terror agency NIA submitted a chargesheet against him and his six Ukrainian associates.
Mr VanDyke, Kaminskyi Viktor, Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, and Honcharuk Maksim were granted bail in late September and permitted to leave the country. They were ultimately charged under the Immigration and Foreigners Act rather than the more strict provisions of the anti-terror law UAPA.
The bail came days after the NIA told the court it had “credible information” about the involvement of the foreigners in an attack on a civilian aircraft in Myanmar on 20 February this year. The aircraft was preparing to take off for Mandalay when it was hit by a suicide drone, resulting in structural damage but no casualties.
The American and the Ukrainians had been arrested during a series of raids at airports across India in March.
They had travelled to the northeastern state of Mizoram without the required permits before crossing into Myanmar to train ethnic militias in drone warfare, the NIA said. They were suspected of providing support to “proscribed Indian insurgent groups by supplying weapons and other terrorist hardware and training them, thus affecting national security and interests of India”, the agency added, without naming the groups.
Myanmar has been engulfed in a civil war since the military overthrew the elected government in a 2021 coup.
India requires foreigners to obtain travel permits for some northeastern border states with a history of ethnic and security tensions.
“India threw me and several Ukrainians into prison for over six months. This was part of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Mr VanDyke alleged in an X post on Monday.
“I will reveal shocking details about this story over the next few months, in both posts and media interviews.”
In the affidavit, Mr VanDyke urged the US embassy to “make it very clear to Indian officials” he would approach the media and the courts with details of his alleged custodial abuse if he became “angry” with the contents of the chargesheet the NIA was putting together at the time, according to the Times of India.
Mr VanDyke is a former war correspondent, documentary filmmaker and mercenary. He joined the Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but was captured by government forces and held prisoner for six months. He subsequently became involved in conflicts in Syria, Iraq, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
In addition to the affidavit, Mr VanDyke had reportedly sent a distress message to his family describing a “series of attacks” inside Tihar Jail. He alleged that prison authorities had struck him on the chest and arms with a police baton and denied him medical attention for nearly 24 hours.
The Independent contacted Tihar authorities for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
India threw me and several Ukrainians in prison for over six months.
This was part of Russia's war against Ukraine.
I will reveal shocking details about this story over the next few months in both posts and media interviews.
Mr VanDyke returned to India in October to appear before a Delhi court and secured permission to be in the US until February 2027.
“The Indian government clearly stated that the Ukrainians and I did nothing against India and only transited India on our way to Myanmar,” he said in a subsequent post on X. “We never had any bad intentions towards India. Reading on X that some in India were misinformed and angry at us has been quite a surprise.”
The US embassy has not commented on the matter.
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