National security breach: Court sends 7 foreigners to 30-day judicial custody
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Monday sent seven foreign nationals, including six Ukrainians, accused of breaching national security, to 30 days in judicial custody.
The foreign nationals were produced before NIA Special Judge Prashant Sharma after the completion of their NIA custody.
On March 16, the court had allowed 11 days of custody to the federal agency for interrogation, which was then extended by another 10 days.
On Monday, the judge allowed the NIA's plea seeking judicial custody of the accused, identified as US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and Ukrainian nationals Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor.
In the remand application on March 16, the investigation officer, citing the FIR, said that some Ukrainians had entered India on tourist visas on separate dates and flew to Guwahati, from where they travelled to Mizoram without obtaining the requisite documents, such as the Restricted Area Permit or Protected Area Permit.
Thereafter, these individuals illegally entered Myanmar to impart pre-scheduled training for Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAO) in that country, the IO said.
In its order allowing NIA custody, the court said the allegations made in the FIR should not be seen in a piecemeal manner.
"No doubt the FIR in question talks about the accused persons travelling to Mizoram, which is a prohibited area, without permission and thereafter crossing over to Myanmar illegally. But it also mentions that the accused persons, linked to Ethnic Armed Organisations (in Myanmar), are (also) supporting certain proscribed Indian insurgent groups by supplying weapons and terrorist hardware and imparting training to them," the order said.
It said these allegations definitely involved national security and the country's interests, and broadly attract Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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Siddaramaiah will continue as K'taka CM under 'current situation': Minister Parameshwara
Mysuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday asserted that Siddaramaiah will continue as the Chief Minister for the full five-year term under the "current situation".
He, however, maintained that any decision regarding the leadership change rests solely with the Congress high command.
"We don't know anything (about leadership change). Who said there will be a change? Who will change? The AICC has to do it. Since they haven't said anything, should we keep guessing? When they want to make changes, the high command will say so; they might not make any changes either," Parameshwara told reporters.
Asked if Siddaramaiah will continue as Chief Minister, he said, "Of course, he will, why shouldn't he? Siddaramaiah will continue under the current situation."
"If Siddaramaiah cannot continue, I'm not the one to say; it will not happen just because Parameshwara says so; the high command has to say," he added.
Amid the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah recently asserted that the party's government will remain in power for two more years and that he is the Chief Minister of the state.
The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025.
The speculation has been fuelled by the reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.
To a query about Shivakumar's aspirations to become the CM, the Home Minister said, "... He is our party state president, our senior leader and the Deputy Chief Minister. Who has to make him the Chief Minister? The high command has to respond, what they say is final. Let's wait until then."
In response to a question on the leadership issue causing a lot of confusion, Parameshwara asked, "Who created confusion? Did the Congress high command do it?"
Recalling that there was no explicit declaration in 2013 that Siddaramaiah would serve as the CM for five years, but he successfully completed his term until 2018, he said, "When Siddaramaiah was made CM in 2023, he has to be there for the full term. If he will not be there for the full term, high command has to decide."
Clarifying that the results of the upcoming by-polls in Bagalkote and Davanagere South will have no bearing on the CM's position, the senior Minister said, "Why should they be linked? Has anyone said there will be a change? Leave the BJP aside, we don't want their assessment. Should we run the administration based on what the BJP says?"
"There may be some discussion regarding a change in our party, but I'm not ready to say that there will be changes after the bypolls. Others can make their own personal assessments," he added.
Bypolls for the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9. The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively.
BJP MP and former CM Basavaraj Bommai recently said that the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress has taken a "short break" because of bypolls, and claimed that the state will witness a "political wrestling" for the Chief Minister's chair in May.
