Russian oligarch victim of an apparent fatal accident in India
The body of Pavel Antov, 65, a member of a regional parliament in Russia, was discovered on Sunday in a pool of blood outside the luxury hotel in East India where he was vacationing with three other Russians. He fell to his death from the hotel terrace. Thursday, one of his traveling companions, Vladimir Bidenov, was discovered unconscious in the same hotel, apparently the victim of a heart attack, and could not be resuscitated.
Police have reviewed all CCTV footage, interviewed hotel staff pending detailed autopsies, but have so far found no clues to suggest a homicide. “All possible angles regarding the deaths of the two Russians are checked”said regional police chief Rajesh Pandit. The heart attack that caused Vladimir Bidenov’s death was likely caused by alcohol abuse and a possible drug overdose, he said.
As for Pavel Antov, “He was probably disturbed by the death of his friend and went to the terrace of the hotel, from where he probably fell to his death”explained the police chief.
Pavel Antov, a member of the United Russia party of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been a deputy of a regional parliament located 150 kilometers east of Moscow since 2018. Before entering politics, he founded the company Vladimirski Standart, specializing in the import and export of sausages, and in 2019 found himself at the top of the list of the richest deputies and politicians in Russia from the Russian edition of the magazine Forbes.
In June, Russian media published a WhatsApp message attributed to Pavel Antov stating that Russian bombings of Ukraine were acts of “terrorism”. Mr. Antov had on the Russian social network VK denied having written this message, saying that he supported “special military operation”official formula of the authorities to designate the war carried out by Russia against Ukraine.