Bhubaneswar, Jan 5: The body of an assistant general manager working with the Vizag Steel was found behind the Sainik School in VSS Nagar this morning.

Police suspect that the 59-year-old victim, I.S. Prasad Rao, was murdered last night. Rao had come to the city by air last afternoon from Vizag, apparently to fix a match for his younger son.

His boarding pass, travel bag and one mobile phone without the SIM card, were found near the body, which bore injury marks. His shoes were found 100 metres away from the spot. Rao was in black trousers and a white vest, while his shirt was missing. The police suspected that Rao had been beaten to death.

On receiving information from the police, the deceased's elder son, Umashankar, a software engineer working in Bangalore, told the police and the media here that his father had come to Odisha to fix a marriage proposal for his younger brother, Balagangadhar. Rao's younger son, a structural engineer, helps his father in his business.

The deceased, who was the assistant general manager (finance) of Vizag Steel, also involved in real estate business.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of Vizag Steel, is a Navaratna company under the Union ministry of steel. One of his acquaintances had sent a marriage proposal from Bhuba-neswar for the daughter of one Koteswar Rao.

Umashankar told the police that their father had spoken to them around 10.20pm last night and told Balagangadhar that he was at the house of Koteswar Rao. Today morning, he said, the police had called him to come to Bhubaneswar immediately.

On the possibility of any rivalry related to Rao's real estate business, Umashankar said his father never shared any information about his business with them. Balagangadhar concentrated on construction business only.

Umashankar also told the police that his father used to carry two mobile phones. The police, however, found one mobile phone without the SIM card from the spot. Thecriminals might have taken away the other phone, the police suspected.

'We are trying to trace Koteswar and the person, who was supposed to be the mediator and had called the deceased to Bhubaneswar. At the moment, we cannot rule out business rivalry being the motive,' said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

Moreover, the deceased had also withdrawn Rs 40,000 in cash in four phases from one particular bank account in the evening. Umashankar told the police that his father used to carry heavy cash whenever he travelled outside.

The deceased used to carry debit cards of various banks but his wallet was found to be missing. 'The possibility of the victim being killed for money, too, is being investigated,' said a police official.

The police have approached the Biju Patnaik Airport authorities for the CCTV footage to find if anyone accompanied Rao when he left the airport premises yesterday.