The ‘mysterious’ deaths of two Russians, including lawmaker Pavel Antov, have come under the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) scanner, with the rights panel seeking an action taken report (ATR) from the Rayagada superintendent of police (SP) on the deaths of the foreign nationals.
“It is requested that an Action Taken Report be sent to the Commission within 4 weeks from the date of receipt of this letter,” the NHRC stated in the order addressed to Rayagada SP.
A Russian tourist, Pavel Antov, a business tycoon and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Rayagada town on December 24, two days after his fellow traveler, Vladimir Bidenov, was found dead there.
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Antov, who was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to go to war with Ukraine, was found dead on the premises of the Sai International Hotel in Rayagada, two days after his 61-year-old friend Vlaidmir Bidenov died of a heart attack in the same hotel on December 22.
Vladimir and Pavel were part of a four-member group of Russian tourists who, along with their guide Jitendra Singh, had checked into the hotel in Rayagada town.
The two deceased Russians were cremated, with the CB-CID investigation currently underway into their deaths.
The CID of Odisha Police had earlier seized burnt remnants of two Russian nationals, including a lawmaker, from the cremation ground at Rayagada for forensic examination as part of its probe into the mystery of the twin deaths of the foreigners.
Meanwhile, the Odisha Director General of Police (DGP), Sunil Bansal, ruled out foul play in the twin deaths of foreign nationals.
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