More suicide reports of prominent Russian businessmen 0:51
(CNN) --
Pavel Antov, a Russian sausage magnate turned lawmaker, died in India on Saturday after falling from the third floor of his hotel, Indian police said.
Antov's death came after his friend and fellow traveler, Vladimir Budanov, died of a heart attack two days earlier on Antov's 65th birthday, Vivekanand Sharma, a senior police official in the capital, said on Tuesday. the state of Odisha, in northeast India.
Budanov was 61 years old with a pre-existing heart condition, Sharma said.
Police believe Antov committed suicide after falling from the third floor of his hotel in the Rayagada district, although the autopsy report has yet to be released, Sharma said.
He said the case had been ruled an "unnatural death," which includes deaths resulting from accidents and suicides.
Prominent Russian businessmen have lost their lives in apparent suicides or accidents in recent months
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Antov, who was a businessman and a member of a regional parliament in the Vladimir region of western Russia, celebrated his 65th birthday on December 22.
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In 2018, Antov topped the Forbes ranking of the 100 richest officials in Russia.
His income in 2018 amounted to about 9.97 billion rubles, according to Forbes Russia.
He was a member of the United Russia party in the Russian parliament, which was previously headed by Vladimir Putin and still staunchly supports the Russian president.
Antov pledged his support for Putin last June when he was forced to deny posting an anti-war message on WhatsApp.
He blamed an "unfortunate misunderstanding and technical error" and said the message had been removed.
Sharma said the Russian embassy was contacted and procedures followed.
Permission had been given for the cremation of the bodies of both men, he said.
Russian Consul General in Kolkata Alexey Idamkin told Russian state media RIA Novosti on Monday that the Odisha State Police and Consulate General in Kolkata did not see anything suspicious in the deaths of two Russians in India.
“We are aware of the death of two Russian citizens.
We are in contact with the relatives of these people and the police department of the city where it happened.
We will provide the relatives of the deceased with all the necessary assistance in the paperwork,” Idamkin told RIA Novosti.
a series of deaths
According to reports, at least a dozen high-profile Russian businessmen have died by suicide or in unexplained accidents this year, six of them associated with Russia's two largest energy companies.
Alexander Buzakov, head of a major Russian shipyard that specializes in building non-nuclear submarines, died suddenly last week, with no cause of death determined by authorities, the Reuters news agency reported.
Anatoly Gerashchenko, a former rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute, died in an unspecified accident in September, according to a statement from the institute.
Lukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov died in early September after falling out of a hospital window in Moscow, according to TASS.
In mid-September, Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin, who was the head of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, was found dead in Vladivostok, according to Russian state media.
Pechorin drowned on September 10 near Cape Ignatyev in Vladivostok, regional media reported.
Another top Lukoil manager, Alexander Subbotin, was found dead near Moscow in May after visiting a shaman, TASS reported.
How to get help:
In the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or or 988 starting July 16, 2022. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also They can provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.