Kanpur, 12

March (HS): Three members of a family -- a mother, her son, and her

brother-in-law -- were discovered dead inside a locked room of their home in

Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district on Thursday, authorities said. They added

that preliminary investigations pointed to a probable suicide pact in the midst

of financial difficulty. On Wednesday night, an event happened in Chaupheerwa

hamlet of the Sadar Kotwali region. Sushila Srivastava, 51, her son Amar

Srivastava, 28, and her brother-in-law Sunil alias Guddu Srivastava, 52, have

all died. Police claimed all three suffered serious neck wounds and slashed

wrists. Three empty pouches of aluminium phosphide, also known as sulphas, and

four blood-stained knives were retrieved from the room.

Sushila's

husband, 55-year-old Sushil Kumar Srivastava, a professional driver, went to

his daughter's residence earlier in the day, according to authorities. When he

arrived in the evening and received no answer after repeated shouts, he smashed

open the door with the assistance of neighbours and saw his wife and son lying

in pools of blood, while his younger brother Sunil was gravely injured. Sunil

was transported to the district hospital, where physicians pronounced him dead.

Senior

police personnel, including Additional Director General of Police (Prayagraj

Zone) Jyoti Narayan and Inspector General Ajay Kumar Mishra, inspected the

scene and oversaw the inquiry. The ADG stated that preliminary results

suggested suicide, since knives were discovered at the scene, the door was

locked from the inside, and empty sulphas packages, as well as evidence of

poison in glasses, were collected from the room, with no indications of

struggle.

Police

assume the trio ingested sulphas before using knives to slit their wrists and

necks. A note retrieved at the site, apparently written by Amar, mentions

serious financial problems and identifies three persons he blames for suicides,

according to authorities. According to Additional Superintendent of Police

Mahendra Pal Singh, all three victims had injuries consistent with blade wounds

on their necks and wrists.

According

to police sources, Amar had debts of approximately Rs 50 lakh. He had sold his

home to settle creditors and had lately borrowed minor sums from acquaintances

and family.

The full

sequence of events will be revealed following the post-mortem and forensic

investigations. The ADG also stated that we are confirming the accusations in

the suicide letter.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi