The body of a 53-year-old businessman, identified as S.M. Basheer of Karakkamandapam near Nemom, was found lying in a rainwater drain at Puthiyathura under the Kanjiramkulam police station limits on Wednesday.
According to the police, the body was noticed early in the morning, with no visible injuries, except for slight bleeding from the nose.
Basheer was also dressed in formals, with even his shoes intact. While police said that initial medical reports suggested a cardiac arrest, the discovery of Basheer’s mobile phone from near Poovar, around two km from the spot where the body was found, and the disappearance of his motorbike, on which he had left home around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, have aroused doubts of a possible murder.
The police said Basheer’s family had reported him missing late on Tuesday. Basheer, who was in the Gulf, had returned home and was the owner of a shopping complex in Karakkamandapam. He is survived by wife Arifa and three children.
The body was handed over to the family after autopsy on Wednesday.
