American citizen Matthew Van Dyke and six Ukrainian nationals, who were arrested earlier this year on allegations of entering India illegally through the Mizoram border, were allegedly involved in a drone attack on a civilian aircraft in neighbouring Myanmar, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a Delhi court.The agency told a special NIA court in Delhi last month that the foreign nationals were allegedly planning to carry out terror activities in India and sought the court’s permission to interrogate Van Dyke and Ukrainian national Kaminskyi Viktor in Tihar jail, where they are lodged.Granting the permission, the special court said interrogating the accused was part of the investigating agency’s procedure and that courts should generally not interfere in the investigation process.The NIA said during its probe, it found that at least 14 Ukrainian nationals had entered India on tourist visas on different dates and travelled to Mizoram via Guwahati. The agency alleged that the Ukrainians then entered Myanmar illegally from Mizoram without the required restricted area permit or protected area permit.The agency claimed that their trip to Myanmar was part of a “pre-scheduled training on drone warfare, drone operations, assembly and jamming technology” for Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups (EAGs) targeting the Myanmar military junta.Several EAGs have been active in Myanmar and, ever since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, these groups have acted under informal pacts with local militias and other resistance forces in an armed struggle against the junta government.The NIA, meanwhile, told the court that the Centre had received “credible information” about the involvement of American and Ukrainian nationals in a drone attack on a Myanmar National Airlines ATR-72-600 (XY-AMI) flight on February 20.The flight came under attack by at least two FPV kamikaze drones as passengers were boarding it at 8.12 pm local time, before its scheduled departure from Myitkyina to Mandalay. The drones were equipped with RPG-type warheads and damaged the nose, fuselage and tail of the aircraft.The NIA said its investigation indicated that the drones used in the attack were allegedly supplied to local rebel groups through a network connected to the “Matthew Van Dyke module”.The agency said it had seized photographs, videos and voice samples from the devices seized from the arrested, which had emerged as crucial evidence in the case.The NIA further informed the court that analysis of data extracted from the seized devices had revealed several incriminating details and facts.The agency has also included videos found on the devices in its investigation, considering them vital to establishing details of the attack on the aircraft and the role of the drone network.Based on the videos, the agency is attempting to determine the origin of the drones, the network that supplied them, how they reached local armed groups and who provided the technical training to operate them.The investigating agency further said it was essential to confront the arrested accused with the digital evidence to verify the material and cross-reference it with their statements.