Russian woman still in jail, fails to furnish bail bonds

ROPAR - A Russian woman, Olga Timoshik, who was arrested last month for assisting a suspected German spy, has been granted bail by the court but is still in jail as she has failed to furnish the bail bonds.

Additional Sessions Judge Surinder Mohan granted bail to Timoshik Tuesday and directed her to submit two bail bonds of Rs.200,000 each. But she has not submitted them.

“This is a legal procedure and it takes time. Hopefully we will submit the bail bonds today or by tomorrow (Saturday) morning. My client will be out of jail by tomorrow,” Birinder Singh, Timoshik’s lawyer, told IANS Friday.

“We are getting full support from the Russian embassy. So far, the police have not found even a single proof against Timoshik and they are falsely portraying her as a spy in the media,” he added.

According to police, Timoshik, 31, was held in Jaipur in Rajasthan June 23 and taken to Punjab after German national Thomas Kuhn, a suspected spy who has been arrested, alleged that his passport was with the Russian.

Kuhn was arrested in May from Nangal town in this Punjab district, where he was living for the past many months without any visa documents and passport.

Police said Kuhn disguised himself as a sadhu (mendicant) and had been living for many months on the banks of a river in Nangal town from where he was arrested.

He hails from Hamburg in Germany. He did not have any visa documents or passport with him and said these were with his friend, Timoshik, who was in Nepal.

Timoshik had been allowed consular access earlier this month. Her passport has been confiscated by the police and the court told her not to leave the country till further orders. The next date of hearing is Aug 12.