Jammu: A senior, city-based lawyer was found murdered inside his house here on Monday, police said, suspecting the involvement of his domestic help, who is missing.

Reyaz Ahmad Buchh, the husband of Power Development Department's retired chief engineer Shenaz Goni, was alone at his Greater Kailash residence when the incident took place, a police official said.

He said a police party rushed to the house after getting information about the murder and sent his body for postmortem.

Preliminary investigations suggest the deceased had a scuffle with his killer before he was apparently strangulated to death. His body also bore visible injury marks, the official said.

He said the CCTV at the house was found damaged and the private car and some other valuables were reportedly taken away, indicating theft as the motive behind the murder.

The family servant, hailing from Bihar, is suspected to be the prime accused, he said adding a murder case was registered and further investigation is on to bring the culprit to book.

Buchh's wife is abroad, while his son had gone to Mumbai, a relative of the slain lawyer said, adding the family had engaged the domestic help only a few months back.