(Image source from: Telugu360.com)

A prominent Non-Resident Indian businessman Jayaram Chigurupati was found dead in his car on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway on Thursday night.

Jayaram was the Managing Director of Express TV, a Telugu news outlet based in Hyderabad. He was also the Director of Coastal Bank and also owned a pharmaceutical company called Hemarus.

Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, a police officer said, "At around 11:30 pm on Thursday night, we received a call from the patrolling vehicle that a car had swerved off the highway and there was a dead man lying inside between the front seat and the backseat. We rushed to the spot immediately."

Through his driving license found on the body, police were able to find out his identity, police said.

"He had left his house day before yesterday. He had a driver and personal security but chose to drive the car himself and leave. Since then, he was not in contact with anyone. On Thursday evening, he messaged one of his employees in Vijayawada and stated that he was coming and asking the employee to arrange lodging for him,” the police officer added.  

The police also said that the car passed the Panthangi Toll Plaza at 8:30 pm on Thursday night.

“However, someone else was driving his car. The driver’s photo was not clear but he was wearing a white shirt. We suspect foul play. This is a suspicious death. We suspect that someone killed him and abandoned the car here to make it look like an accident. We are trying to make further headway into the case,” the police said.

Since bottles were found in the car, the police said that they had to find out if anyone consumed the alcohol. A case has been registered. “It is not a natural death, that is for sure. We will complete the investigation soon,” the police added.

The body has been sent for a postmortem and the police anticipate that the medical results will help them make further progress in the case.

In 2014, Jayaram was the Managing Director of Express TV, which had shut shop after failing to pay salaries to its employees.

-Sowmya Sangam