Amaravati, Jul 13 (IANS): A tomato farmer has been murdered in Andhra Pradesh's Annamayya district by unidentified persons allegedly to rob him of the money he fetched by selling tomatoes following a big jump in the prices of the veggie.

Narem Rajasekhar Reddy (62) was found murdered on Wednesday in Bodimalladinne village of Madanapalle mandal.

Police suspect that he was murdered on Tuesday night when he was going to the village to deliver milk. The assailants intercepted him, tied his hands and legs with silk thread and strangled him to death with a towel.

The farmer, who was staying in an agriculture field away from the village, was on his way to the village to deliver the milk. His wife told police that some unidentified men had come to the farm on the pretext of buying tomatoes. They left the place after she told them that her husband had gone to the village.

The farmer was said to have earned Rs 30 lakh by recently selling tomatoes in an agriculture market in view of the skyrocketing prices. The murder is suspected to be linked to this. Police were investigating if the farmer was carrying any money.

Police said they were investigating the case from all angles. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Keshappa said four teams were constituted to solve the case.

Police deployed a sniffer dog as part of the investigation. The dog went up to the house of the victim from the scene of the crime.

Police suspect that 3-4 persons may have committed the murder. Superintendent of Police Gangadhar Rao also visited the spot and spoke to the victim's family members.

The farmer is survived by his wife and two daughters. Both the daughters are married and live in Bengaluru.