New Delhi, December 28, 2022 (PPI-OT):Indian police are investigating the sudden death at a luxury hotel of a wealthy Russian politician who reportedly criticised the Ukraine war, and his travelling companion. The Russian politician’s death has raised questions about the safety of foreigners, previously women and now men as well, in India. The body of Pavel Antov, 65, was found on Saturday in a pool of blood outside his lodgings in eastern Odisha state, where he was on holiday with three other Russian nationals. His death came two days after another member of the travel party, Vladimir Bidenov, was found unconscious after an apparent heart attack at the same hotel and could not be revived.

Police said on Tuesday they were reviewing CCTV footage, questioning hotel staff and were waiting on detailed autopsy reports, but so far there was no sign of foul play. “All possible angles as regards to the deaths of two Russian nationals are being verified,” the regional police chief, Rajesh Pandit, told the media. Bidenov’s heart attack was probably caused by binge drinking and a possible drug overdose, he said. “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 said Antov and his friends had been in the state since mid-December and visited several locations before arriving at their hotel in Rayagada at the start of last week. Two local travel agents accompanying the party had also been questioned, along with the other two Russian members of the holiday group. Antov’s death is the latest in a string of unexplained deaths involving prominent Russian businessmen, several of whom have voiced criticism of the invasion of Ukraine.

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