Anurag Tiwari, a Karnataka cadre IAS officer, was found dead under mysterious circumstances near a government guest house in Hazratganj area, Lucknow.

According to the police sources, Tiwari, who was commissioner of food and civil supplies department in Karnataka, had arrived in the state capital from Mussorie after undergoing his training. He had been staying at the Meerabai Guest House in the city for the past two days.

Tiwari, who hail from Uttar Pradesh's Baharaich district, about 200 kilometres from Lucknow, had gone out for a morning walk, sources said that his body was found lying on roadside a few metres away from the Guest House.

Lucknow police chief Deepak Kumar said that a passer by informed the police around six in the morning that a body was lying on road. ''There was an injury mark on the chin...apart from that there was no other injury mark,'' Kumar said.

He said, prima facie, it seems that Tiwari may have died of ''traumatic injuries'', including heart attack or from falling or may have have been knocked down by a speeding vehicle. ''The real cause of death will be ascertained only after the postmortem examination,'' Kumar added.

The official said that a senior UP IAS officer Prabhu Narain Singh, who is currently vice-chairman of Lucknow Development Authority, was also staying with Tiwari.

Sources said that it was Tiwari's birthday today. Tiwari's family, however, apprehended ''foul play'' and demanded a thorough probe into the matter. ''We were expecting him (Tiwari) to come here on Wednesday...we had made plans to celebrate his birthday,'' said a family member in Baharaich.

Family sources also said that Tiwari was having some dispute with his wife and in-laws. They said the couple had been granted divorce.

A 2007 batch IAS officer, Tiwari had completed B.Tech in electrical engineering from the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow.

Karnataka IAS officer found dead on his birthday, family cries foul