Man’s body found in pvt lodge’s water tank

Erode: A 27-year-old man's decomposed body was found floating in the water tank of a private lodge in Erode city on Saturday. The police suspect that he might have been murdered, possibly because of personal enmity.

The deceased was identified as P Jayakumar, 27, of Tharamangalam in Salem district. He had been working with Arun Lodge in Erode city for the past two years.

A few days ago, he had approached the lodge manager, N Badrinathan, for leave and the latter had sanctioned the same. "After that, Jayakumar was not seen at the lodge," said his colleagues.

On Thursday, inmates of the lodge complained that the pipe water was having strong foul smell. Following this, the lodge management arranged for a few persons to clean the overhead water tank.

When they opened the tank on Saturday, the workers found a decomposed body floating in the water. They immediately alerted the lodge management and the manager informed the Veerappanchatram police, who retrieved the body from the tank.

During the inquiry, the police identified the victim as Jayakumar. "The body has decomposed as it had been floating in the water for at least three days," the police said.

The police have sent the body to the Erode government hospital for postmortem. They have registered a case and further investigations are on. The police said only after the autopsy they can ascertain whether it was a case of suicide or murder.