The now out-on-bail US mercenary Matthew VanDyke, in his 2025 application before the court, claimed that he was subjected to unprovoked custodial assault. However, Delhi court-ordered CCTV footage and a report submitted by Tihar Jail authorities before the court contradict VanDyke’s claims.
CCTV footage and Tihar Jail report debunk Matthew VanDyke’s ‘custodial assault’ claims
It is reported that the Tihar Jail report and CCTV footage show that Matthew VanDyke initiated an unprovoked physical assault against an armed police constable.
The constable interpreted VanDyke’s attack as a potential prison break and promptly acted to restrain and neutralise the US mercenary.
The video evidence debunks VanDyke’s claim that he was assaulted without cause.
The Delhi court examined the CCTV footage and expressed full satisfaction with the Tihar Jail authorities’ response to VanDyke’s aggression.
It is, thus, evident that Matthew VanDyke’s sensational claims of repeated assault inside Tihar Jail are devoid of factual merit.
Citing intelligence assessments, CNN-News18 reported that the officials deemed VanDyke’s custodial assault claims part of a pattern of exaggerated or false allegations.
Matthew VanDyke alleged custodial assault in handwritten affidavit to US Embassy
Notably, Matthew VanDyke had sent a handwritten affidavit to the US Embassy in Delhi in August, in which he alleged repeated assaults, chest and arm strikes, baton threats, and denial of medical care for about 24 hours inside the Tihar Jail.
Matthew VanDyke had even told US embassy officials to “make it very clear to any Indian officials you address this with” that if he got “angry” with the allegations the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was going to level in its chargesheet, he would approach courts and the media with details of alleged custodial torture.
“I ask the embassy to proceed carefully, making it clear to the Indian government that if I am angry about anything in the chargesheet on 8 September, then I will table the story of the attack on me to the media and file in court, including both criminal and civil court, not only this attack but the entire history of my frequent mistreatment at Tihar jail,” he wrote, as reported by ThePrint.
It must be recalled that VanDyke’s family had issued a statement in August this year, claiming that the US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, “briefed” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri about VanDyke’s case during Rubio’s May visit to India. It also mentioned VanDyke’s hunger strike inside prison.
“Ambassador Gor previously briefed Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Secretary Rubio on Matthew’s situation during his visit to Delhi, India, May 24-26,” the statement reads.
‘Part of Russia’s war against Ukraine’: Matthew VanDyke announced he will reveal ‘shocking details’ about his imprisonment in Tihar Jail
On 9th November, Matthew VanDyke published an X post claiming that India lodging him and six Ukrainian nationals in prison was a part of Russia’s war against Ukraine. He also said that he will reveal ‘shocking details’ about his time inside Tihar Jail in the next months.
“India threw me and several Ukrainians in prison for over six months. This was part of Russia’s war against Ukraine. I will reveal shocking details about this story over the next few months in both posts and media interviews,” VanDyke wrote.
Matthew VanDyke appeared before Delhi Court in October
On 23rd October, Mathew VanDyke made an appearance before a Delhi court after returning to India. Earlier, he was permitted to spend a month in his home country on the condition to come back for the investigation.
VanDyke will make another appearance before the court on 24th February.
VanDyke’s arrest, NIA chargesheet and dropped UAPA charges
US mercenary Matthew VanDyke was nabbed alongside 6 Ukrainian citizens on 13th March after they entered Mizoram without valid permits and crossed into Myanmar illegally.
They contacted banned organisations associated with militancy and provided them with weapons, including drones and other terrorist hardware, along with training.
VanDyke and other accused persons brought a huge consignment of drones from Europe through India. The investigation revealed that all the accused had entered India on valid visas but reached Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit (RAP).
The NIA revealed that during interrogation, the accused acknowledged being in direct contact with the militants, brandishing AK-47 rifles.
The probe agency disclosed that a party of 14 Ukrainians travelled to Guwahati and then Mizoram after landing in India on tourist visas.
They trained ethnic militias such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Chin National Front (CNF) in Myanmar after entering Myanmar and helped supply drone consignments from Europe to networks connected to armed groups.
According to the NIA, they were even providing training in weapons use. They also went to Victoria Camp, which is the military headquarters of the Chin National Army (CNA), for the same objective.
Pertinently, the NIA mentioned that some of these ethnic armed groups have links with militant organisations operating in India’s Northeast.
VanDyke and other accused were charged with criminal conspiracy and other offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), as the matter remains under investigation.
However, it did not invoke UAPA in its chargesheet later.
The agency clarified that it has not dropped its terror probe against six Ukrainian nationals and US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke. According to reports, sources stated that an inquiry is underway, and the chargesheet does not indicate that all terror-related charges have been withdrawn.
The NIA was reported to have filed a chargesheet under the Immigration and Foreigners Act (IFA) because these violations have already been thoroughly proven throughout the investigation.
Therefore, instead of letting the statutory period run out, the NIA lodged a chargesheet for those breaches, but this should not be mistaken for the conclusion of the broader probe.
Matthew VanDyke: The trained mercenary active wherever American foreign policy interest demands
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1981, Matthew Aaron VanDyke had been a prisoner-of-war in Libya after he had joined the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi. Before becoming a combatant and trainer in multiple conflicts, VanDyke worked as an adventurer-filmmaker.
VanDyke also completed a 2010 Iraq-Iran-Afghanistan motorbike trek with photographer Daniel Britt.
It was footage from these trips that formed the basis of VanDyke’s award-winning documentary, Point and Shoot (2014). VanDyke was detained over 20 times, all this while in Iraq, and was even accused by Iran of espionage.
When the Libyan Civil War broke out, VanDyke joined the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi in addition to filming it.
After fighting alongside rebel troops, he was taken prisoner by Gaddafi’s government and held in solitary confinement for almost six months before making his way back to the front lines. VanDyke was paraded by the Gaddafi regime on state television.
In 2014, Matthew VanDyke formed the Sons of Liberty International after his friends, American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were executed by ISIS. Operating as a licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit, SOLI is essentially a private security contracting company.
SOLI admittedly provides supplies, military training, and consulting services at no cost to “vulnerable populations” facing terrorist groups and authoritarian regimes. The Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), an Assyrian Christian group battling ISIS, were trained by SOLI during its first deployments in Iraq.
Both Matthew VanDyke and SOLI have been actively training, advising, and supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine against Russia.
VanDyke had also claimed to have participated in America’s regime change operation in Venezuela.
OpIndia reported earlier about VanDyke’s social media footprint, his deep ideological support rooted in his profound belief in Christianity, for the ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) in Myanmar, and anti-Ayatollah activities in Iran.
VanDyke’s footprints have been traced in Ukraine, Venezuela, the Philippines, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco, Jordan, Turkey, Spain and now towards Myanmar, through India.
VanDyke has his footprint in almost all the countries where the American government has had significant foreign policy interests, with Ukraine being the highest priority theatre.
VanDyke’s presence in Myanmar also aligns with American foreign policy interests. The Myanmar military junta, Tatmadaw, has the military and diplomatic backing of Russia and China, and Russia also supplies oil to Myanmar.
In such a case, the US needs to back anti-junta elements to drain Russia of its resources to force the Kremlin into discontinuing its war against Ukraine.
OpIndia has reported in detail about how VanDyke worked closely with the CIA and MI6 front.
