A stone quarry owner, who had been missing for four days under mysterious circumstances, was found dead inside his car near Kodishettipura village of the district, police said.
His body was found after the car, which had sunk in a canal in the village, was fished out, they said.
Relatives of G N Nagesh (47), owner of a stone-quarrying unit, had lodged a complaint at Srirangapatna police station that he had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on May 21. They suspected that a business rival had got him murdered, police said.
Police rushed to the spot after a passerby tipped them off about a vehicle being submerged in the canal. They found the businessman's body in the back seat of the SUV when it was being lifted out of the canal with a crane.
"Prima facie, it looks like the vehicle was deliberately pushed into the canal. We suspect foul play in the case," a police official said.
