Chennai | Veteran Tamil film producer K Rajan jumped into the Adyar river in the city and died on Sunday, police said.

This is a suicide, and the reason for his extreme decision is not known, police added.

The 85-year-old film personality asked his car driver to stop while crossing Adyar bridge, and "Suddenly came out of the car and jumped into the river," police sources said.

The driver immediately called Fire and Rescue Services personnel, who came to the spot, retrieved the dead body of Rajan and sent it for post-mortem.

Police have registered a case in this regard, and further investigation is on.

Rajan ventured into the Tamil film industry as a producer in the early 1980s. Apart from producing movies, he also directed films. Rajan also served as the president of the Chennai film distributors' forum.

"This is terrible news. Deeply shocked to hear about the demise of our beloved member of the film fraternity, producer K Rajan sir," actor and BJP leader Khushbu Sundar said in a post on social media platform X.

"A very respectful person and a man who never hesitated to call a spade a spade. This is very upsetting. May his soul rest in peace," she added.