Third Russian Dies In Odisha In Two Weeks, Body Found Onboard Cargo Ship

Paradip: A Russian national, working as a chief engineer in a cargo ship, was found dead onboard in Odisha, police said on Tuesday. This is the third Russian found dead in the state within a span of two weeks, including a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Marine police along with other statutory authorities will carry out an investigation of the death of the Russian national, namely Milyakov Sergey, and after that, the final report will be available, police said.

“A Russian national named Milyakov Sergey, chief engineer of the ship was found dead onboard a cargo ship in Odisha. Marine police along with other statutory authorities will carry out an investigation and after that,  the final report will be available,” said police on Tuesday.

“Today at around 3 am, we received a message from the master of the vessel that the Russian chief Engineer has died. Our port health officer has reached there. All the formalities will be done according to the protocol,” said PL Haranadh, Chairman, of Paradip Port Authority.

Two Russian tourists, including a lawmaker, were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Rayagada town in southern Odisha in the latter half of December.

Pavel Antov (65), a lawmaker in Russia, died after allegedly falling from a hotel’s third floor on December 24, while his friend Vladimir Bidenov (61) was found dead in his room on December 22. Both cases are being investigated by the Odisha Police.

A team of the Crime Branch along with the state Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) experts visited Sai International Hotel in Rayagada on December 30 where the Russian nationals were found dead. The team was led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Saroj Kant Mahanta.

The CID Crime Branch of Odisha Police stepped up the investigation of the death of two Russian nationals, including a prominent lawmaker, in Rayagada. The team inspected the place where the body of Pavel Antov was found lying. The entire area was thoroughly examined with the assistance of forensic experts. The details of the spot map were drawn mentioning all relevant references to the spot. A pair of slippers said to be of deceased Pavel Antov was recovered from the spot.

The investigating team searched for evidence from room no 203 where Vladimir and Pavel were staying on December 21. It collected all the evidence including slippers and latent fingerprints from glass and other surfaces. The team also searched thoroughly for evidence in room no 309 where Pavel Antov was staying alone from December 22 night. Fingerprints found on the materials like glass and water bottles were collected.

The Crime Branch team also discussed with the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Rayagada, IIC Rayagada town police station about the evidence gathered by the local police during their spot visit on the date of the incident. Odisha police said CID-Crime Branch has been cross-checking the information collected from their co-travellers Pansasenko Natalia and Turov Mikhail. They were further examined at CID-CB headquarters at Cuttack. Their statements were video recorded through an interpreter.

According to the CID-Crime Branch, a preliminary investigation has revealed that the Russian nationals were on a trip to the tribal region of Odisha.

Rabindra Mishra, a human rights activist from Brahmapur in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district has written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to probe into the third successive death of Russian citizens in the state under mysterious circumstances.