Paradip/Bhubaneswar/Berhampur: Another Russian national was found dead in Odisha on Tuesday. This is the third such incident in a fortnight, police said.

A 51-year-old Russian national, Milakov Sergei, was found dead in a ship anchored at Paradip port in Jagatsinghpur district.

Sergei was the chief engineer of the ship MB Aldana, which was going to Mumbai from Chittagong port in Bangladesh via Paradip. He was found dead in his room of the ship at 4:30 am. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Paradip Port Trust chairman P L Haranand confirmed the death of the Russian engineer and said the matter was being investigated.

Earlier in December 2022, two Russian tourists, including an MP, were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Rayagada town of southern Odisha.

65-year-old Russian lawmaker Pavel Antov died on December 24, 2022, after allegedly falling from the third floor of the hotel, while 61-year-old Vladimir Bidennov was found dead in his hotel room on December 22, 2022. Odisha Police is investigating both the cases.

Indian Express According to official sources, milakov, the third deceased Russian national, was working as a crew member on the vessel MB Aldana, which has been engaged in shipping by an Indian steelmaker company. The empty ship was scheduled to dock at the pier on Tuesday for loading iron ore from Paradip port.

“Around 4 am, the captain of the ship sent a message to the port authorities about the death of a crew member. As per standard operating procedure, the port health officer visited the ship and confirmed the death.”

He further said that the police will give more information on this incident. The ship has a total of 23 crew members, including some Indians.

When contacted, Paradip Additional Superintendent of Police Nimai Charan Sethi said that though the death of the Russian national has been confirmed, they have not yet received any official communication from the shipping company (which owns the ship) or Paradip port authorities.

“Since the ship is at sea, we are waiting for an official communication from the shipping company. Once we get the information, we will first register an unnatural death case and then recover the body. A post-mortem will then be conducted in Kujang in the presence of a magistrate to ascertain the exact cause of death,” he said.

The body will be kept in the mortuary and handed over to the family of the deceased after post-mortem, a senior police officer said.

As the investigation into the deaths of two Russian tourists, including a Russian MP, continues, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to rayagada superintendent of police (SP) seeking an action taken report (ATR) within four weeks.

The order was issued on the basis of a petition filed by Ravindra Kumar Mishra, a human rights activist from Berhampur town.

The NHRC said the action taken report should be submitted within four weeks of the date of receipt. The letter was issued on Friday (December 30).

A four-member crime branch team, including two forensic experts, has been formed to assist the CID in investigating the deaths.

According to an official statement, the investigating agency has collected the remains of the bodies of Pavel Antov and Vladimir Baidenov from a crematorium near Rayagada. The remains will be sent for forensic examination, it said.

The russian lawmaker’s postmortem report indicated that he died of internal injuries after falling from a height, while Bidennov died of a heart attack.

The last rites were performed with the consent of the family members of both and the Russian Embassy.

The probe team has examined the rooms in the hotel where the two foreign tourists were staying since December 21. The team has taken possession of their equipment and other belongings.

The crime branch team also recorded the statements of Russian couple Turov Mikhail and Pen Senko Natalia, who were with Antov and Bidennov.

Odisha Police has asked Russian couple Mikhail and Natalia not to leave India for the time being as the investigation is in progress.

A group of four Russians, including Antov and Bidennov, had arrived in Odisha on December 19 along with Delhi-based tourist guide Jitendra Singh.

Meanwhile, Odisha Director General of Police SK Bansal said the best investigators have been roped in the probe and no evidence of any wrongdoing has been found so far.

(with input from news agency language)

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