The deceased had been suffering from some ailment and could not go for work for some time, police said.

His sister, who is living alone in a house on the property, noticed a blaze at midnight and thought that wood might have caught fire accidently.

She also doused it with the help of another relative living in the neighbourhood. In the morning, they found the body, they said.

A suicide note, allegedly written by Vijayakumar, was recovered by the police.