A 30-year-old man, V. Karuppasamy of Parthibanur in Ramanathapuram district, was found dead with a stab injury inside a van along Madurai-Tiruchi highway behind the High Court Bench premises late on Sunday night.
Police said the omni van in which Karuppasamy, who had returned from Singapore in January, was found dead was stolen from a place in K. Pudur on March 25 night. The man had a deep stab on his left chest and bled profusely.
A watchman of a residential layout along the four-way highway had noticed the van parked on the approach road on Sunday morning when he was leaving for home. He grew suspicious when he found the van parked at the same spot when he returned for night duty around 10 p.m. On noticing a man lying in the car, he alerted the police.
Rajarajan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters), who is in-charge of Law and Order, inspected the scene of crime.
The police were investigating as to how Karuppasamy was found inside the stolen vehicle, B. Sakthivel, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Anna Nagar), said.
Police sources said Pudur police had issued a Community Service Register receipt for the stolen van on March 28. Karuppasamy, who worked as a driver in Singapore, had returned only in January.
The family members were making arrangements for his marriage. He is said to have come to Madurai with a girl, one of his relatives, on March 25. He took her to the house of his friend to attend a birthday party. However, he left the girl there, went out and never returned. The police are questioning the girl and trying to identify the friend.
