A scientist with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was Tuesday found murdered in his apartment in Hyderabad, the police said.

The man, identified as 56-year-old S Suresh Kumar, was allegedly killed by unknown persons at his flat at Annapurna Apartment in Ameerpet, an area in the heart of the city.

Suresh, a native of Kerala, was alone in his flat. When he did not report to the office on Tuesday, his colleagues called him on his mobile number. As there was no response, they alerted his wife Indira, who is a bank employee in Chennai. 

The wife in turn got in touch with neighbours who checked on the house. When the found the house locked, the neighbours called in the police. On Tuesday afternoon, the police found Suresh's dead body lying face down in the hall of his apartment.  

Police suspect that he was hit on head with some heavy object resulting in his death. The body was shifted for autopsy.

“There are injury marks on his head. He appears to have been hit with a heavy blunt object. We are investigating if someone forcibly entered into the flat or the assailant was known to the victim,” an official was quoted as saying.

Police clues team gathered clues from the scene. Senior police officials visited the scene.

They said they were scanning the CCTV footage of the apartment complex to probe the case.

While the police are yet to establish a motive for the crime, a few media reports stated that a preliminary probe pointed to personal reasons, and nothing to do with his official work. The investigating officer however told TNM that no motive has been established and they were yet to zero in on any suspects.

Suresh was living in Hyderabad for the past 20 years. His wife was also working in the city but was transferred to Chennai in 2005. Their son is settled in the US while their daughter lives in Chennai.

With IANS inputs