Bhubaneswar: Though the post-mortem reports of two Russian tourists – including a businessman-politician – who died in a hotel in Odisha’s Rayagada district apparently do not reveal any foul play, the officers from the Crime Branch will continue to investigate the two cases as “unnatural deaths”.
The focus has now shifted to the lightening speed in which the bodies were cremated and the fact that the viscera of politician Pavel Antov (65) was not preserved.
The mysterious sequence of events began when Vladimir Bydanov collapsed and died in his room in the Sai International Hotel in Rayagada on December 22. His friend Antov died on December 24 when he fell from the terrace of the same hotel, on the third floor. The post-mortem reports have said that Bydanov’s death was caused by a heart attack while the latter died from the internal injuries caused by the fall.
Antov’s death has attracted worldwide attention because a number of Russians have died unnatural deaths since Moscow invaded Ukraine. Antov, a lawmaker from the regional parliament of Vladimir Oblast province, had earlier this year criticised missile attacks by Russia on residential blocks in Kyiv, though he later backed away from the comment.
Bidenov and Antov were part of a four-member group, which along with their travel guide Jitendra Singh had checked into Sai International on December 21. They were supposed to stay there only for one day, but had to extend the trip after Bydanov’s death.
They had reached there from Daringbadi, a famous tourist spot in the neighbouring Kandhamal district. The two remaining members of the group, Natalia Panasenko and Mikhail Turov, have been questioned by the Crime Branch which took over the probe on the orders of director general of police Sunil Bansal.
Also Read: A Russian Lawmaker Died in Odisha Under Mysterious Circumstances – Here’s All We Know So Far
The Crime Branch is looking into the hasty manner in which the bodies of the two Russians were cremated. While police claim that the cremations were done after obtaining the consent of the family members and with the knowledge of Russian authorities in India, the Crime Branch is investigating the veracity of the ‘power of attorney’ document. According to The Hindu, though the bodies should have been buried as per Christian tradition, the district police cremated them through the ‘power of attorney’ document.
Senior lawyer Kali Prasanna Mishra also raised concerns. “Normally in such cases, steps are taken not only to inform the family but also to send the body to the native country of the deceased. We don’t know for sure whether due procedure was followed. There are many unanswered questions in this case,” said Mishra. Former director general of police Sanjeev Marik told a local TV channel that the police manual was very clear with regard to the procedure to be followed in such cases. “In the case of unidentified bodies, there is an attempt to find out the religion of the deceased to facilitate the last rites,” he said.
Another point of controversy is that while the viscera of Bydanov was preserved for examination, the same was not done in the case of his high-profile lawmaker friend Antov, whose fall from the third floor of the hotel remains wrapped in mystery.
Viscera has liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney samples which can be used for forensic tests when the cause of death is not clear from an autopsy.
Rayagada chief medical officer Lalmohan Routrai said that the viscera of Antov were in all probability not preserved because the doctors who conducted the post-mortem did not feel the need. “They may not have considered it necessary to preserve the viscera,” quipped Routrai.
Former DGP Sanjeev Marik also said that the viscera of a deceased person is preserved only in cases where the post-mortem report is not conclusive about the cause of death. “Since in this case, the death resulted from trauma caused by fall from a high place, the need to preserve the viscera might not have been felt,” said Marik. He, however, said that the poilice should investigate how the Russian politician fell from the third floor of the hotel.
Lawyer Mishra was emphatic that not preserving the viscera of the lawmaker was a mistake. “It is an important piece of evidence. It should have been preserved,” he averred.
Russian tourists death case | Four Russian tourists came to Rayagada district, one of them died probably because of a heart issue. We initiated an enquiry & police case was registered. A post-mortem was conducted: Sunil Kumar Bansal, DGP, Odisha pic.twitter.com/axVRIvgp6O
— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2022
No fould play, but no clarity either
The popular narrative about Antov’s death is that he died by suicide because he was depressed following the death of Bydanov, who collapsed in his room on December 22 – allegedly after suffering a heart attack caused by excessive drinking.
The receptionist of the Sai International hotel, Bijay Swain, said, “Antov was behaving strangely the day he passed away. We had sent a staff member to have a look at him a little while before he fell to his death. Irritated at the sight of our staff member, he kicked him. Our man came back and reported that the guest was behaving badly.”
Swain also said that since Bydanov’s death had allegedly been caused by heavy drinking, the other Russian members of the team – including Antov – were not served any liquor.
While the post-mortem report has of Bydanov also found no evidence of foul play, the doctors could not arrive at a conclusion on the cause of death because there were no external or internal injuries. Visceral analysis may help in this regard. However, the post-mortem report found evidence of chronic heart diseases.
Tourism concerns
The death of the Russians has also triggered concern among hoteliers and tour operators of the state, who are gearing up to welcome foreign guests during the upcoming Hockey Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar, which begins on January 13. The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HARO) has written to chief minister Naveen Patnaik not only to ensure a fair probe into the death of the two Russians but also to come up with a strong action plan for the safety and security of visitors to the state during the World Cup.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Odisha used to welcome around 1.5 lakh tourists annually. A sizable number of them visited tribal-dominated districts such as Rayagada, Koraput and Kandhamal. HARO noted with concern that the death of the Russian tourists could harm the prospects of tourism in the state by slowing down the arrival of foreign tourists.
‘Tribal tourism’ has been one of the major attractions of the state, where 62 distinct tribal groups – each with its own indigenous culture – live. However, visits of foreign tourists to the settlements of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) have also led to controversies in the past. This forced the state government to impose a ban on foreign tourists’ visits to the tribal regions of the state for three years but the restrictions were lifted in 2015-16 in the wake of a reduced inflow of foreign tourists to Odisha.
Among the PVTGs, Bondas and Dangaria Kandhas are considered to be particularly sensitive. Kadhamal and Rayagada districts have pockets of Kandha tribal population, which attracts foreigners. The tribe was in the news for their resistance against a bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri hills, a fight which was branded as “real-life Avatar” – a reference to the Hollywood film which had a similar plot.