A 45-year-old fisherman who had ventured into the sea in a boat along with five others died under mysterious circumstances at mid sea. The boat had returned to the shore on Tuesday along with Shanmugam's body with his throat slit open.

Police said that the fishermen who went along with the dead man said that Shanmugam had committed suicide by slitting his throat on Sunday night when they were sleeping. He was found to be very depressed on the day while venturing in to the sea from Cuddalore and they had tried in vain to cheer him up.

They found Shanmugam lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit open when they woke up on Monday morning following which they decided to return to the shore to report the incident although they were supposed to fish at mid sea for the next 15 days, the fishermen said.

A case of suspicious death has been registered by the Fishing Harbor police and the body has been sent for post-mortem.