Perumbavoor, Ernakulam: A murder scare in the heart of town on Wednesday evening took a humorous turn for local police. The suspected corpse turned out to be a drunk man sleeping under a pile of sacks.

On Tuesday, a caller informed the Perumbavoor police that a body had been found stuffed in a sack near the paddy fields behind a BEVCO store. The officials arrived to see what looked like a body stuffed in a sack, with only the legs sticking out.

As officers moved to lift the “body,” it suddenly stirred. Inside the sack was not a corpse, but a very much alive, and heavily intoxicated, 30-year-old plywood factory worker from Murshidabad, based in Allapra.

He had apparently covered himself with sacks to block the sun and fallen asleep. Relieved it wasn’t a murder, the police gave him a stern warning before sending him on his way.