Odisha police release two detained Russian nationals

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Puri, Jan 25:

The two Russian nationals, who were detained by the Odisha police on Friday, were finally released on Saturday night.

According to reports, Vasil Lu Fair and Maratha Galimur, the two engineering students, were detained and interrogated by the Niali police on Friday night. Police had taken them for interrogation after a dumper in which they were travelling, met with a road accident near Niali in the evening.

The duo was later taken to Puri for further investigation. During interrogation at the Kumbharapada police station, the two Russian students informed Puri SP Ashish Kumar Singh that they had come to India on a three-month tourist visa. They also showed their flight tickets to Bangkok.

After verifying their visa and other documents, the SP contacted the Russian consulate to ascertain the veracity of their claim.

As the information provided by the consulate matched with the documents and information provided by these two students, the consulate later asked the SP to send them to Kolkata.

The SP came to know that the two Russian nationals, who did not have enough money with them, had boarded a truck from Konark to reach Cuttack from where they were scheduled to move to Kolkata. The SP arranged two tickets for them to travel in the three-tier AC coach of Puri-Howrah Express to Kolkata.

Besides, realizing that the two Russian nationals had no pocket money with them, two local journalists of Puri gave them Rs 200 each to meet their expenses during the travel, reports said.