Siliguri, June 20: Two American women arrested from Bagdogra Airport in April for illegally carrying ammunition have been granted permission to fly back to the US to be with an ailing family-member, but the court has asked them to hand back their passports and visas to police after three months.

Monica Bond and her daughter Heather from Santa Barbara in California have been appearing before the investigating officer of the case at Naxalbari police station every fortnight since they were granted bail and released from prison on April 30. But today, the additional sessions’ judge, first court, in Siliguri allowed them a three-month window to go back to California and meet Monica’s husband, Lawrence, who is ill.

“Yesterday, we had filed a petition at the court asking for their passports and visas to be returned in view of the poor health of Lawrence Bond,” said Abhaypada Chatterjee, Monica and Heather’s lawyer. “The court today granted them permission to withdraw their passports and visas and submit the same by September 20, that is, in three months’ time. They also need to submit a bail bond of Rs 10,000 each.”

Chatterjee said the mother and daughter are likely to go to Bagdogra tomorrow to collect the documents. “It would take at least two-three days for them to head for the US,” the lawyer added. “The case will continue at the court here.”

Lawrence had earlier told The Telegraph that he was a double-bypass patient and that was the reason why he could not come to India to be with his wife and daughter after they were arrested.

Monica, 57, and Heather, 37, were arrested on April 14 after a 9mm pistol clip containing 11 live cartridges were found in their check-in baggage while they were on their way to Delhi after a visit to Darjeeling. It later emerged that they had seen the bullets in the hill town but kept mum about them.

They were charged under the Indian Arms Act and produced in court the next day, before being sent to jail custody.

Heather’s boyfriend Sean McGaughey had told Santa Barbara Daily Sound, a local daily, that the bullets belonged to him and had probably found their way into the bag on one of the couple’s trips in the Santa Barbara backcountry, where they regularly carry weapons.

Monica, a retired nurse, and Heather, an employee of California's forest department, had clean records in the US, according to the FBI.