Russian woman caught for assisting spy not cooperating: Police

ROPAR - A Russian woman who was arrested last month for allegedly assisting a German spy is proving to be a hard nut to crack, with Punjab police saying she frequently changes her statements and often refuses to speak.

Olga Timoshik was caught in Jaipur by a special team of Punjab police June 25. According to police, Timoshik, who is in her early 30s, is a close aide of Thomas Kuehn who was arrested for allegedly collecting vital information on the Bhakra dam.

“She is frequently changing her statements and is not cooperating with police. Earlier she said she was a photographer, then she claimed that she was a journalist. But she had told her landlord in Jaipur that she was in the textile business. Most of the time during interrogation, she remains silent,” H.S. Hundal, deputy superintendent of police, Nangal in Ropar district, told IANS here.

“We have recovered her laptop but she had deleted most of the data before giving it to police. There are some secret messages that were sent using some special software. We are taking the help of experts from New Delhi to decode these messages.”

Police have also got the call details of Timoshik’s mobile phone and found that she frequently talked to a person called Sergy.

Officials from the Russian embassy had also met the Punjab police chief in connection with the arrest.

Police are still clueless about her source of income.

“She had a lavish lifestyle in India and travelled to various places in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir before coming to Jaipur. She was staying there in a rented accommodation. So far she has not been able to tell us anything about her source of income,” stated Hundal.

Police say Kuehn, disguised as a sadhu, had for many months been living on the banks of a river in Punjab’s Nangal town from where he was arrested in May. He hails from Hamburg, police say. He did not have any visa documents or passport with him and said these were with his friend, Timoshik, who was in Nepal. However, Timoshik was found in Jaipur.

This was Kuehn’s second visit to India. In the last 10 years, Kuehn had visited various countries in Europe, America and Africa, police say.