A Russian citizen who had gone missing in Odisha has been traced and was detained by the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Bhubaneshwar Railway Station on December 31. Glagolev Andrew, a 58-year-old resident of Moscow had gone missing after he was seen protesting against Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Bhubaneswar railway station.
The Russian citizen was holding a placard and demonstrating in front of the station against the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the placard, it was written, “I am a Russian Refugee. I am against the war. I am against Putin. I am homeless. Please help me.”
After he was photographed by passengers holding the placard, he disappeared from the spot when police reached there. This created panic among the police, as this came after the death of two Russians in Odisha state. The Railway Police launched a search for the man his photographs which had gone viral on social media.
“Some passengers clicked photos of the Russian man at the railway station. We have his photos and are trying to locate him,” said Jayadev Biswajit, the inspector in charge of GRP at Bhubaneswar station. Following the search, the Russian was spotted by the GRP at the Bhubaneshwar Railway Station later in the day, and he was detained.
The police said in a statement that the Russian citizen visited India on a tourist Visa that has now expired. He did not have money and was begging at the station for money. Reports suggest that the man was unable to communicate with the local law enforcement agencies and authorities as he did not understand English and no one could speak Russian. The GRP detained him for inquiry about the purpose of his visit to India and his problems.
The Russian citizen had a valid passport in his possession but failed to produce a valid Visa. After questioning him, GRP handed him over to the special branch. Jayadev Biswait, IIC, Government Railway Police Station, told Odisha TV, “He is a national of the Russian Federation. Andrew Glagolev, aged 58, resides in Moscow. He has been residing in Indian since 2016, and he holds a valid passport. He had a six-month visa. Subsequently, he applied for asylum in India to concerned authorities in the United Nations. The proposal is under consideration; on that ground, he resides in India.”
He added, “As informed by him, he has been in Odisha for three months, and mostly he stayed in Puri during that time. He has produced some documents. We are verifying his claims and the documents. As per the documents, his stay in India is legal. But, we cannot say anything until verifying the authenticity of the documents.”
Jayadev Biswait also said that he had found the man loitering on the platform earlier also and had verified his documents, at that time his visa was valid.
Russians died under mysterious circumstances in India
Earlier, it was reported that two Russians died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel in Odisha. One of them died allegedly of a heart attack and the second one allegedly jumped to death from his hotel room after attending the funeral of the former.
As per reports, on December 21, four Russian tourists checked into Sai International Hotel in Rayagada, Odisha. One of them, Vladimir Budanov, was found dead inside the hotel room on December 22. Reports suggest that Budanov died from a heart attack, and Pavel Antov allegedly committed suicide after attending his funeral on December 25. Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Sharma confirmed the two deaths to the news agency ANI.
Times of India quoted an unnamed CID-CB officer saying that so far, nothing suspicious was found in the deaths of Pavel Antov and his friend Vladimir Bydanov during an investigation by the crime branch. The cremated remains of the two were seized by the investigation team for forensic examination.
The deceased Russians were President Putin’s critic
As per reports, one of the Russian tourists who died in a span of 3 days was a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dubbed the ‘highest-earning elected politician’ in Russia, Antov was a multi-millionaire. He was elected PM by the main pro-Putin party, United Russia. He has been an open critic of the President for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Antov was in India with three of his friends to celebrate his 66th birthday.
The Russian Counsel General in Kolkata, Alexei Idamkin, said in a statement that Antov died after he fell out of a hotel window. He said, “We are closely following the investigation and receiving all the information from the Odisha police.”
In June this year, Antov had termed the Russia-Ukraine war as Russian ‘terror’ wounding Ukrainian civilians. He also highlighted a missile strike, following which a girl was pulled out from under the rubble. The girl’s father had died in the attack. He had said, “The mother is trying to be pulled out with a crane – she is trapped under a slab. To tell the truth, it is extremely difficult to call this anything other than terror.”
Following his remarks, he was under intense pressure, after which he withdrew his comments and apologised for the same. In a social media post, he had called his statement ‘an unfortunate misunderstanding’ and a ‘technical error’. He backed President Putin and said he always had supported him and sincerely backed the military operations.
