The deceased, SS Manickam, a farmer and a district representative of the Salem East unit of the DMK, had retired for the night outside his house at Vellaiyur village on Monday. His second wife, Indirani, and son, Udhaya Prakash, were asleep inside the house.

At around 5 am, Indirani came out of the house and was shocked to find her husband lying dead in a pool of blood. A police team from Veeraganur rushed to the spot and sent the body for a post-mortem. Salem Range DIG Santosh Hadimani, SP Kuthalingam held inquiries.