Police said the deputy died after falling from the third floor of the Odisha Hotel in Rayagada district. According to a senior police officer, Antov “was depressed because of the death of a friend”, who died in the same hotel on Thursday 22 December.
It was reported that Antov’s fellow traveler was found unconscious in his room on the first floor of the hotel, next to him were several empty bottles of alcohol. When he was taken to the hospital, doctors pronounced him dead.
NDTV lists the names of dead Russians as Antov and Bidenov. Vladimir edition “Zebra Television” clarifies that we are talking about Antov’s friend, a 61-year-old businessman from Yoshkar-Ola (RF) Vladimir Bydanov.
Russian media suggest Antov may celebrate his 65th birthday in India – his birthday was on December 22. It was on this day that Bydanov was found dead.
The victims were among a group of four from Russia who, along with their tour guide, Jitendra Singh, checked into a hotel in the town of Rayagada on Wednesday 21 December. The two surviving tourists have been asked to stay in India for the time being and coordinate their actions with the investigation.
Of Antov’s death, a senior police officer stated that “it appears to have been suicide”.
Indian police “still don’t see a criminal component” in the deaths of Antov and Bydanov, he told Russia’s propaganda agency on Dec. 26 TAX Consul General of the Russian Federation in Calcutta (India) Alexei Idamkin. According to preliminary data, the cause of Bydanov’s death was a heart attack, and Antov “fell out of the window.”
Antov is one of the richest deputies in the Russian Federation, the founder of the Vladimirsky Standard meat and sausage production company. In 2018, he topped the ranking of the richest deputies and officials of the Russian Federation according to the Russian Forbes, which estimated his earnings at 10 billion rubles. (5.4 billion UAH at current exchange rates), wrote the Russian propaganda agency “RIA New”.
