BHUBANESWAR: Russian lawmaker and multi-millionaire Pavel Antov, 65, who fell to his death from the second-floor roof of a hotel in Odisha’s Rayagada district on December 24, may have died by suicide, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Antov had been upset after the death of his childhood friend Vladimir Bydanov due to a heart attack at the hotel on December 22, police officers and a hotel official said.
Odisha director general of police (DGP) Sunil Bansal insisted “there is no foul play” in the death of the two Russian tourists.
“While Bydanov died of a heart attack, Antov most likely jumped from the roof of the hotel terrace,” said Bansal. The state’s police chief added that the district police are investigating the exact cause of death and the state’s criminal investigation team (CID) will assist in the probe to establish the circumstances leading to the two deaths.
“If required, CID will completely take over the investigation of the case,” said Bansal.
Rashmi Ranjan Pradhan, inspector-in-charge of Rayagada town police station which is investigating the deaths, said: “We suspect that he may have jumped from the terrace on the second floor of the hotel room… We have lodged a case of unnatural death in this connection”.
{{/usCountry}}Rashmi Ranjan Pradhan, inspector-in-charge of Rayagada town police station which is investigating the deaths, said: “We suspect that he may have jumped from the terrace on the second floor of the hotel room… We have lodged a case of unnatural death in this connection”.
{{/usCountry}}Antov, Russia’s sausage tycoon who founded a major food industry conglomerate, Vladimir Standard, was in Odisha’s tribal-dominated district as part of a 14-day India Tribal Tour package of a Delhi-based travel agency.
Antov was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack and air strikes on Kyiv in June this year in a social media post. After a missile strike in which a girl was being pulled out from under the rubble that killed her mother, Antov said “it is extremely difficult to call this anything other than terror.”
The sausage magnate, however, retracted his comment and issued what the western media dubbed as a “grovelling apology”, a reference to his claim that his post was “an unfortunate misunderstanding” and “technical error”. He later insisted he had “always supported the President” and “sincerely” backed the goals of Putin’s military operation.
Koushik Thakkar, the owner of Sai International hotel where the two deaths in Odisha were reported, said Antov, his friend Bydanov and a Russian couple, Mikhail Turov and Natalia Panasenko, checked into the hotel on December 21 afternoon after travelling to Kandhamal district. The four were in the country on a tourist visa and arrived in the state on December 20, a day after landing in Delhi.
They had been celebrating much before they checked into the hotel on December 21. Local tourist guide Jitendra Singh said they ordered more liquor from the hotel bar.
Thakkar said Antov and Bydanov had been drinking after their arrival at the hotel. “On 22nd morning, Bydanov died in his room after suffering a heart attack. Antov, who accompanied the body to the cremation ground, was visibly depressed since then and stopped ordering food. On December 24 morning, when our hotel staff did not find him in his room, they started searching and found him lying unconscious on the terrace of an adjoining single-storey building. We then informed the police,” Thakkar added.
Police said Antov’s body is being preserved for further investigation.