THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 64-year-old man was found dead near a pond near the road under construction between Kovalam and Mukkola on Monday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Sasidharan Nair, a resident of Kovalam. The Kovalam police have registered a case in connection with the incident. According to the police, the body of Nair was found by locals around 4 pm near the Porod pond.
"Prima facie, there are no signs of unnatural death. It is learnt that he used to drink a lot and the locals had seen him last on Saturday after he had bought some liquor from the BEVCO outlet at Mukkola junction. Since the spot is inaccessible to locals, nobody had seen the body of Nair till Monday evening.
When his body was finally spotted, it had been badly burnt by the sun. He might have died due to illness and his body was exposed heavily to the sun. However, a probe has been initiated to find out the reason of death.
"As per the statements taken from relatives of the victim, he used to drink alcohol a lot. We are weighing all possibilities", a police official said.
Sasidharan Nair was an employee of a hotel.
The body has been shifted to the morgue at Medical College Hospital for postmortem examination.