DHARMAPURI: A 30-year-old man, wanted by the forest department in connection with the killing of a tusker near Neruppur in Eriyur over a fortnight ago, was found dead inside a forest on Friday.
Eriyur police said residents of Kongarapatti village spotted a severely decomposed body of the man inside the forest 1.5 km away from the village. Police said the suspect, G Senthil (30) of Kongarapatti, was identified by his wife S Chitra (30). The body was sent to the Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
Addressing the media, Chitra alleged her husband was murdered by the forest department. It may be recalled that Chitra had lodged a complaint stating that her husband, who was allegedly in the custody of the forest officials, faced death threat.
SP SS Maheswaran said, “A country-made gun was found near the body. We suspect he may have died by suicide.”