Indian safety forces are probing the sudden deaths of a rich Russian lawmaker who reportedly criticized the Ukraine warfare and his companion at a luxurious resort in Odisha state.
The physique of Pavel Antov, 65, was discovered Saturday in a pool of blood outdoors his lodgings in japanese Odisha state, the place he was on vacation with three different Russian nationals.
His loss of life got here two days after one other member of the journey social gathering, Vladimir Bidenov, was discovered unconscious after struggling an obvious coronary heart assault on the identical resort and couldn’t be revived.
Police stated they have been reviewing CCTV footage, questioning resort workers and ready on detailed post-mortem reviews, however to date there was no signal of foul play.
“All possible angles as regards the deaths of two Russian nationals are being verified,” regional police chief Rajesh Pandit instructed Agence France Presse (AFP).
Bidenov’s coronary heart assault had probably been attributable to binge consuming and a potential drug overdose, he stated.
“So far it seems that Antov accidentally fell from the hotel terrace,” he added.
“He was probably disturbed by the death of his friend and went to the hotel terrace and likely fell to his death from there.”
The officer stated Antov and his mates had arrived within the state in mid-December and visited a number of areas earlier than arriving at their resort in Rayagada initially of final week.
Two native journey brokers accompanying the social gathering had additionally been questioned, together with the opposite two Russian members of the vacation group.
Since 2018, Antov was a member of a regional parliament 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Moscow, representing President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia social gathering.
Before getting into politics he based the meals processing enterprise Vladimirsky Standart and in 2019 he was ranked the richest amongst all parliamentarians and senior officers within the nation by the Russian version of Forbes journal.
In June, Russian media revealed a WhatsApp message attributed to Antov that stated a Kremlin missile bombardment on Ukraine was “terrorism.”
Antov took to the Russian social media community VK to disclaim writing the message, insisting that he supported Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Antov’s loss of life was introduced in Russia by the deputy head of the Vladimir Legislative Assembly, Vyacheslav Kartukhin, on Telegram.
“As a result of tragic circumstances, our colleague, a successful entrepreneur, and philanthropist Pavel Genrihovich Antov, passed away. On behalf of the deputies of the United Russia faction, I express my deep condolences to the family and friends.”
Antov was one of many richest politicians. In 2018, Forbes estimated his fortune at 10 billion rubles ($146 million).
Russian Consul General in India’s Kolkata metropolis, Alexey Idamkin, instructed the Russian state-run TASS news company: “A tourist group of four people was vacationing at a hotel in Rayagada. Last Thursday, Russian Vladimir B. died. According to police, the cause of this was a heart attack. Last Saturday, the second Russian, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir region, Pavel Antov, fell out of the window,” he stated.
“We are closely following the investigation and getting all the information from the Odisha police.”
