New Delhi, The NIA has not dropped terror charges under the Unlawful Activities Act against seven foreign nationals one American and six Ukrainians and its probe under the anti-terror law is continuing, government sources said on Wednesday.
NIA Files Charges Against US Citizen and Ukrainians
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and six Ukrainians under the Immigration and Foreigners Act (IFA). According to sources, the offences under this law were ‘fully established’ during the ongoing investigation.
The NIA indicated that the inquiry under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA) is still active, despite not being included in the chargesheet. An official stated, ‘The law also permits further investigation after filing of a chargesheet and the filing of a supplementary chargesheet where additional evidence establishes further offences.’
The accused were set to complete 180 days in judicial custody on September 8, making them eligible for default bail if the chargesheet had not been submitted. However, since the offences under the IFA were confirmed, the NIA opted to file the chargesheet to prevent the bail period from expiring.
An official emphasized that the ongoing investigation under the UA is not closed, saying, ‘This should not be confused with the closure of larger investigation… therefore, the fact that the UA provisions are not part of the IFA chargesheet does not mean that the UA investigation has been withdrawn, abandoned or closed.’
Additionally, sources noted that US diplomats addressing the case of one of their detained citizens is considered ‘normal diplomatic practice.’
