Gowtham, 38, a native of Paravai in Madurai was found dead with injuries at Bharatipuram, near the Old Employment Exchange office in Dindigul on Thursday.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that he had several criminal cases pending against him in Madurai and Dindigul districts including attempt to murder and murder charges.
For sometime, he had been living in NS Nagar in Dindigul, a police officer said and added that recently criminal cases had been registered against him in Dindigul Taluk police station.
It is suspected that Gowtham had gone out to consume liquor in a secluded place on Wednesday night. He may have had some wordy altercation with some two-three people while having alcohol. Probably, there may have been a clash and he could have been attacked with weapons in which he had collapsed, sources say.
Only after some passersby noticed the body in the early hours, the police visited the scene of crime. The body was sent to Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.
Dindigul SP V Baskaran and DSP Gokulakrishnan visited the spot and conducted inquiries. A special team has been formed to nab the suspects.
A police officer in Madurai district said that Gowtham had some enemies in Madurai and in a bid to keep away from them, he had been living in Dindigul.
Further investigation is on.
