The CBI must probe the Russian Tourists’ deaths in Odisha

Two Russian tourists, both said to be critics of President Vladimir Putin, died within 48 hours of each other at a hotel in Odisha. The police and district authorities evidently did not observe the complete protocol for deaths under mysterious circumstances and concluded that one of them died because of a possible cardiac arrest and the other had committed suicide as he could not bear the loss of his companion. Strangely, while the viscera of one of the tourists has been preserved for further forensic analysis, the viscera of the tourist who apparently died because of a heart attack, has not been preserved. It is more than clear that the authorities have failed to reach irrefutable conclusions and therefore the matter should be handed over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough and objective probe. There have been allegations in the western media that ever since the start of the Ukraine war, critics of President Putin have been dying in various parts of the world because of reasons that are baffling. The probe is also needed to clear the Russian President’s name if such an accusation is found to be flawed. In the light of these incidents, the Indian Intelligence agencies need to beef up their counter-intelligence operations in order to prevent the recurrence of such unexplained deaths. In the past as well, there have been cases worldwide where adversaries of different regimes were targeted and eliminated by secret service agents. Some time ago, there were writeups that suggested that both Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Nuclear scientist, Homi Jahangir Bhabha were taken out by the Central Intelligence Agency. This charge also needs to be corroborated. Similar allegations of a foreign hand were made when Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi were assassinated. Even after the death in a tragic helicopter crash of General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Defence Staff, there was intense speculation of a possible foul play involving a foreign power though the India Air Force inquiry blamed the pilot for the mishap. In 2012, an Israeli woman diplomat was grievously injured in an explosive attack, half a kilometer away from the Prime Minister’s residence. The Israelis blamed the Iranians for this act. The murderous attack followed targeting of Israeli and Iranian diplomats and citizens by the agents of the opponent countries. In Delhi, the 1980s, there were killings of two diplomats which were never properly solved. Mustafa Al Marzook of the Kuwaiti Embassy was gunned down as he was boarding his car in the Geetanjali colony of South Delhi. Soviet Third secretary, Khitzichenko was shot dead by two motorcycle borne riders on the Satya Marg in the Chanakyapuri area when he was returning to the Embassy premises on Shanti Path along with wife after they had shopped at the nearby Yashwant Place. The Odisha government must allow the CBI to probe the deaths of these Russian tourists, in order to lift the veil of mystery from this possible crime. There should also be no further delay by the Indian intelligence to also help the probing agencies with inputs that would shed light on these unfortunate incidents.