Rayagada: Russian millionaire Pavel Antov, who was found dead at an insipid hotel in Odisha’s Rayagada on 24 December, suffered massive internal injuries, including the rupture of his left lungs, liver and spleen, a copy of the autopsy report obtained by ThePrint has revealed. Medical examiners who conducted the post-mortem also found blood clots in his trachea and larynx, besides fractured ribs.
The injuries, sources in Odisha Police said, were consistent with claims that the sausage tycoon-turned-legislator fell to his death from the terrace of Hotel Sai International — though they do not establish the cause of the fall.
Antov (65) was rushed to the Rayagada District Headquarters Hospital by his tour guide Jitendra Singh at 4.55 pm Saturday, hours after he attended the cremation of Vladimir Bidenov (61), a Russian national with whom he was sharing a room at the hotel. Bidenov was found dead in his hotel room on the morning of 22 December in what police suspect to be a case of a heart attack.
According to the two-page autopsy report prepared at the Rayagada district hospital, Antov had injury marks on his abdomen, his left lung was ruptured, and he had blood clots in his trachea and larynx. His left pleura — a thin layer of tissue that covers the lungs and lines the interior wall of the chest cavity — was also ruptured, besides his liver and spleen. Medical examiners also found that his left ribs were fractured.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police believe Antov, who was on vacation with a group of three other Russian nationals including Bidenov to celebrate his birthday, jumped from the terrace of Hotel Sai International and landed on the terrace of the adjoining single-storey building where construction material was stored. The fall was less than 20 feet.
Pradeep Sahu, a receptionist at Hotel Sai International, told ThePrint earlier that Antov’s “eyes were open and he was gasping” when hotel staff found him on the terrace of the adjoining building. “We immediately rang the police and called for an ambulance. He was taken to the hospital by his tour guide Jitendra Singh,” said Sahu, who was among the few who last saw the Russian lawmaker from the city of Vladimir alive.
A top official of the Odisha Police Crime Branch, that is investigating the deaths of Antov and Bidenov, told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that Antov was cremated only after a nod was sought from his family back in Russia. “His family wanted him to be cremated and for his ashes to be flown to Russia,” said the official.
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‘Viscera should be preserved’
Bidenov’s autopsy report, also accessed by ThePrint, revealed that while no external injuries were found on his body, the deceased had serious underlying heart conditions. “Through post-mortem no external or internal injuries except chronic diseases with bilateral pleural effusion and large cardiomegaly extending to the left lung with left coronary descending artery embolus measuring more than four inches,” read the report.
Medical examiners who conducted the post-mortem also found that Bidenov’s stomach was filled with ‘100 ml fluid, with a peculiar smell, like that of cannabis’. “Keeping in view, all the stomach contents, liver, spleen, both kidneys, lungs and heart have been kept for forensic analysis. All the findings are ante-mortem in nature,” said the report.
Police suspect that Bidenov could have had a heart attack, but the definitive cause of death can only be ascertained once the viscera report is prepared.
While Bidenov’s viscera samples have been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Bhubaneswar for further examination, those of Antov weren’t preserved “since there was no request from the doctors” to do so, according to Rayagada’s Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Lalmohan Routrai.
Speaking to ThePrint, forensic medicine expert T.D. Dogra said while it is not compulsory to preserve the viscera, it is advisable to do so as a precaution when the cause of death is not obvious.
“The viscera should be preserved when circumstances under which the death was reported raise suspicion. Moreover, the medical history of the deceased is taken into account. Observation of doctors during the autopsy is also taken into consideration,” said Dogra, who is also a former director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.
He further explained, “Even if the death is natural but the cause of death is not obvious and there is any amount of suspicion, the viscera should be preserved. In the case of foreigners, it is advisable to preserve it.”
Meanwhile, with one team of the Odisha Police Crime Branch interrogating the Russian couple and their tour guide, another is investigating in Rayagada.
Antov was travelling through Odisha’s tribal belts with Bidenov, and two other Russian nationals, Mikhail Turov and Panasenko. The group of four had arrived in Bhubaneswar on 19 December, accompanied by Jitendra Singh, a tour guide they hired in New Delhi.
According to sources in the Odisha Crime Branch, the group visited Daringbadi in Kandhamal district before arriving in Rayagada and had plans to visit Assam next.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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