Indian police are investigating the sudden death of two Russians at a luxury hotel in India, including that of politician Pavel Antov, who is said to have criticized the Ukraine war. So far there have been no reports of a crime, the investigators said on Tuesday.
In the case of Antow, whose body was found in a pool of blood outside his accommodation in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Saturday, the politician appeared to have fallen from the hotel terrace, local police chief Rajesh Pandit told AFP.
Two days earlier, another member of the tour group died
Antov was vacationing in India with three other Russian nationals. Two days before his death, another member of the tour group, Vladimir Bidenov, had died. Bidenow was found unconscious in the same hotel and could not be revived.
The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack, police said. This was probably caused by excessive alcohol consumption and a possible drug overdose, Pandit said.
According to the police chief, officers have reviewed video footage from surveillance cameras, questioned hotel staff and are awaiting detailed autopsy reports. “All possible aspects related to the death of the two Russian nationals are being investigated,” Pandit assured.
Alleged Whatsapp message brought Antov into the crosshairs of the Russian media
Antov has been a member of a regional parliament about 150 kilometers east of Moscow for United Russia, the party of Russian President Vladimir Putin, since 2018. Before entering politics, he founded a company in the food sector.
In 2019, the Russian edition of Forbes magazine ranked Antov as the richest deputy and politician in Russia. In June, Russian media published a Whatsapp message attributed to Antov. It said the Kremlin’s rocket fire on Ukraine was “terrorism.”
Antov on the online network VK denied writing the message and assured that he supports Russia’s “military operation” in Ukraine. (AFP)
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