Karimnagar: Tension prevailed at Rajannapet village in Yellareddypet mandal of Rajanna Sircilla district after police intercepted a funeral procession on Saturday and seized the body of a 58-year-old man for post-mortem examination.

The deceased was identified as Erpula Narsaiah, a Gulf migrant who had returned to his native village about a month ago to attend his son’s wedding. He was found dead on Friday night. His wife, Vajravva, initially informed villagers and relatives that he had died of a sudden cardiac arrest.

However, as the funeral procession was proceeding towards the cremation ground, villagers noticed suspicious dark marks around Narsaiah’s neck and visible injuries on his body. Suspecting foul play, they alerted the Yellareddypet police.

Sub-inspector Rahul Reddy and his team rushed to the spot, halted the procession, and shifted the body to a local hospital for post-mortem examination.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Narsaiah had allegedly caught his wife with another man from Kancharla village when he returned home from the fields on Friday evening. A confrontation reportedly followed, during which the duo allegedly strangled him to death using a rope tied to a ceiling beam.

Police said Vajravva allegedly tried to pass off the death as natural to cover up the crime. She has been taken into custody for further questioning.

A case of suspicious death has been registered and is likely to be altered to murder following the final post-mortem report. Narsaiah is survived by two sons and a daughter.