NIA Arrests Six Ukrainians, One US National Under UAPA

The accused were reported to have valid visas but travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit.

The Wire Staff

The accused were reported to have valid visas but travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit.

nia arrests six ukrainians one us national under uapa

National Investigation agency (NIA) office, in New Delhi. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested six Ukrainian nationals and one US national under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist activities against India.

The arrests took place last week in different locations. The US national was detained at Kolkata airport and three Ukrainians each were detained at airports in Lucknow and Delhi.

The first information report was registered on March 13. On March 14, the seven were produced before the duty magistrate, who remanded them to three-day custody. On March 16, the suspects' custody was extended by 11 days.

The accused were reported to have valid visas but travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit, crossed into Myanmar, met ethnic armed groups and delivered multiple consignments of drones from Europe.

Their charges are under section 18 of UAPA and for violating the protected area permit.

When reached for a comment, a spokesperson for the US embassy said, “We are aware of the situation. For privacy reasons, we cannot comment on cases involving US citizens”.

There has been no statement from the Ukrainian embassy so far. It is learnt that the defence lawyers have been contracted on behalf of the Ukrainian embassy.

This article went live on March seventeenth, two thousand twenty six, at forty-nine minutes past twelve at noon.

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