murder representational
[Representational Image]Reuters

An IAS officer of the 2007 batch was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday morning. The Lucknow Police have, prima facie, ruled out any possibility of criminal activity behind the IAS officer's death.

The body of 36-year-old Anurag Tiwari, the deceased IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, was found on the road near the Meerabai Guest House located in Lucknow's Hazratganj area. Tiwari hailed from the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.

Station House Officer, Hazratganj Police Station, Anand Kumar said that no injuries were found on any part of Tiwari's body except for one on the chin. The body has been sent for a postmortem, the Indian Express reported. The cause of his death would be ascertained only after receiving the postmortem report.

Kumar said that the police control room received a call on Wednesday morning about a man lying on the roadside near the guest house at Meerabai Marg. The police rushed to the spot upon receiving information following which the man was sent to a hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

SHO Kumar added that Tiwari's identity card was recovered during physical search following which senior officials were informed about his death.

"Anurag Tiwari, 2007 batch IAS officer, and his batch mate Prabhu Narain Singh were staying in a room at the guest house. Prabhu Narain told police that today early morning when he left the room to play badminton, Anurag was not on his bed. Prabhu Narain locked the room and handed over the key to the reception," SHO added.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condoled the death of the officer through Twitter: "Shocked to learn about the unfortunate demise of Karnataka's IAS officer in Lucknow. My condolences to his family. Have deputed a senior officer to Lucknow to monitor situation following sudden demise of IAS Anurag Tiwari; in constant touch with UP Govt."