American citizen Matthew VanDyke was arrested by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) in March 2026, rather than being caught directly in Manipur. (Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador Sergio Gor recently arrived for an official visit to Manipur and met Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
American national Matthew VanDyke and six Ukrainian nationals were detained on March 13, 2026, at the Kolkata airport (while the Ukrainians were detained in Delhi and Lucknow). They are accused of entering India's northeast region without proper permits and crossing into Myanmar to train armed groups in drone warfare.The NIA filed a formal chargesheet against the seven men in September 2026, and they are currently held in Tihar Jail.
Six Ukrainians and an American citizen had been arrested for allegedly entering India’s northeast region without permits and then crossing to neighbouring Myanmar to train armed groups in drone warfare.
