No mystery to Russians death: cops >From Devika Sequeira,DH News Service,Panaji: Five months after he was found dead in Mandrem, questions have been raised about Russian cop Evgeny Kuzmins visit to Goa last year.
Was he sent here as an undercover agent on the trail of a drug operation, or was he just a cop out on a regular Goa holiday? The media, obsessed with incidents related to foreign tourists since the Scarlett Keeling case, has given a new spin to the Russian's death when the case was hardly suspicious, say the Goa police. Russian authorities on the other hand, who have asked the Goa police for details of the investigations into Kuzmin's death, have been evasive, neither confirming nor denying if he was deputed here on work. Inspector General of Police Kishan Kumar told Deccan Herald that Kuzmin, 35, had arrived in Goa from Moscow with a friend on November 9 last. There was nothing on record to show that he was a police or enforcement officer. On December 8, Kuzmin went out to dinner with a Russian woman friend in Calangute. He spent the night at the woman's house in Mandrem. Late next morning he was found dead in his sleep. No injuries "The post-mortem inquest showed there were no injuries on his body," Kumar said, but since the exact cause of death had not been established the viscera were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad. The Goa police are still to get the results of the forensic tests. Lawyer Vikram Verma, retained by the Russian Consulate in Mumbai, says Kuzmin was a Russian law enforcement officer. "Since there is lack of clarity on the cause of death, the Russian Ministry of Interior has asked for details of the police inquiry. All we've been told is that he went for a party, came back and died," says Verma. * * * http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Death_of_Russian_detective_bares_drug_sex_trade_in_Goa/rssarticleshow/3017333.cms Death of Russian detective bares drug, sex trade in Goa 7 May 2008, 0817 hrs IST,Preetu Nair,TNN PANAJI: The mystery surrounding the death of the Russian law enforcement officer in Goa has exposed another tale of drugs and sex, even as TOI investigations have confirmed that Eugeny Kuzmin (25) was in the state specifically to check whether the drug trade had any Russian links. Kuzmin was on a secret mission to investigate if there is any involvement of Russian nationals in the drug trade in Goa. Moscow was concerned with several allegations of Russians being involved in the drug trade, and had sent Kuzmin to Goa for an undercover investigation. He was found dead in his hotel room in Mandrem on December 9, 2007. The enforcement officer's sudden death had created a furore in Russia. The Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation had written a letter to the Goa chief minister and chief secretary on February 15, 2008, raising concerns about his demise. TOI investigations also reveal that an Assagao-based Russian is a kingpin in the drug trade. "The Russian brain behind the drug trade in Goa is a Disc Jockey (DJ) who resides in North Goa. He operates in the coastal areas of Morjim, Arambol and Ashvem in Pernem taluka with the help of locals," a shack owner from Anjuna told TOI. It is alleged that the DJ supplies narcotics, especially MDMA, at rave parties and women are used as runners to sell drugs. However, the Russian authorities refused to divulge any further information . "Kuzmin's death remains shrouded in mystery." A scrutiny of the viscera report would greatly help in bringing some clarity to the cause of death. However, the circumstances preceding his death must be investigated and recorded to assist justice," said Vikram Varma, counsel for Consul general of Russian Federation, Mumbai. However, the Goa police has ruled out foul play. "The inquiry conducted so far has revealed that there is no foul play in the death of Kuzmin," said SP Bosco George.
