  Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR is a short period Jupiter family comet with an
orbital period of 6.44 years. The results from spectroscopic, photometric,
polarimetric observations and dust modelling studies are presented here. From
the spectroscopic study, strong emissions from $CN (\Delta \nu = 0)$, $C_3
(\lambda 4050$ \AA), $C_2 (\Delta \nu = +1)$ and $C_2 (\Delta \nu = 0)$ can be
observed during both the epochs of our observations. The Q($C_2$)/Q(CN) ratio
classifies the comet as a typical comet. The imaging data reveals the presence
of jets. The dust emission from the comet is observed to have a non-steady
state outflow due to the presence of these strong jets which subside in later
epochs, resulting in a steady state outflow. Polarimetric study at two
different phase angles reveals the degree of polarization to be comparable to
Jupiter family comets at similar phase angles. Localized variations in
polarization values are observed in the coma. The dust modelling studies
suggest the presence of high amount of silicate/low absorbing material and
indicate the coma to be dominated by higher amount of large size grains with
low porosity having power law size distribution index = 2.4. The observed
activity and dust properties points to a similarity to another Jupiter family
comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
