The rural police have registered a case of unnatural death in connection with the demise of Prafulla Chandran Nair, former chairman of the Nedumangad municipality, at a private hospital on Tuesday.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nedumangad, K. Mohammed Shafi, said Mr. Nair, 64, was found unconscious on the roadside near his house at Paranthode at around 2.30 p.m. on Monday.
Diabetes
He said the former Communist Party of India(Marxist) activist had earlier consumed sugar from a nearby shop to stave off diabetes-induced hypoglycaemia.
The police suspect he collapsed on the road and sustained a head injury.
Forensic experts told the police that their preliminary inference was that the head injury had caused his death.
Mr. Shafi said Mr. Nair had a heart condition and damaged liver.
His relatives had rushed him to a private hospital after he was found unconscious on the road.
He said one of the two businessmen who were rivals in the bar hotel business in the locality had attempted to portray Mr. Nair's death as murder.
Petitions
Mr. Nair had filed a series of petitions to stymie the efforts of the businessman's rival to get a bar-licence for a hotel the latter had recently constructed in the locality.
The police have registered a case of unnatural death and investigation is on. They are awaiting the final post-mortem examination report to determine the cause of the death.
