Russian politician falls to death from Odisha hotel
New Delhi, December 27
Pavel Antov, chairman of the committee on Agrarian Policy and Ecology of the Legislative Assembly of Russia’s Vladimir region, died of a fall from his hotel in Odisha’s Rayagada district.
The deputy died while celebrating his 65th birthday which fell on December 22. He belonged to the ruling party of Russian President Valdimir Putin but had criticised the killing of civilians in Ukraine and made a turnaround by stating that his post on social media was “an unfortunate misunderstanding”.
In a video, the hotel receptionist said four Russians had come to stay in the hotel on December 21 along with their travel agent from Delhi. According to reports, one of the tourists Vladimir Budanov, 61, died the same night and the police were informed the next morning.
The post-mortem report showed the cause of the death as cardiac arrest and the deceased was cremated in Rayagada itself.
Antov’s death led western media to speculate whether he was the latest among several Putin critics who died mysteriously.
The police said an investigation was under way to find whether the death was an accident or a suicide.
The Russian Consulate General in Calcutta Alexei Idamkin told TASS that Antov fell out of a hotel window. “We are closely following the investigation and receiving information from the Odisha police,” he said.
