Couple and son found dead inside a hotel room - Siliguri businessman family was debt ridden over the past year, during the lockdown

Police said a purported note found mentioned about a failed business and that the family was debt ridden over the past year, during the lockdown

The family had apparently told the hotel authorities that they were from Siliguri and had come to Calcutta for medical treatment.:Shutterstock

TT   |   New Market   |  17.03.21: An elderly couple and their 45-year-old son were found dead inside a hotel room on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, in central Calcutta, on Tuesday afternoon, two days after they had checked in.

The family had apparently told the hotel authorities that they were from Siliguri and had come to Calcutta for medical treatment.

Police said a purported note found in the room mentioned about a failed business and that the family was debt ridden over the past year, during the lockdown. A bottle, which the police suspect contained poison, was found in the room.  “There were no injury marks on them. It appears like a suicide pact,” said a senior police officer of New Market police station.

Sushil Kumar Bansal, 66, of Maple View, Mayfair Garden, on Sevoke Road in Siliguri, had checked into the hotel on March 14 with wife Chandra Devi, 60, and son Sunil Kumar, 45. The family ran a gunny bag manufacturing business, which had to be closed down during the lockdown, the police have learnt.

Investigators have found that the three and Sunil Kumar’s wife and children had left Siliguri in January. Last week, Sunil’s wife and children were left at her brother’s home in Lake Town. Cops said they were yet to ascertain where the family had been staying between January and March.

“Sunil’s wife was told that she and the children would be picked up from her brother’s home in a few days once her husband rented an apartment,” said an officer.

The hotel officials said the family last ordered food on March 14. The next day, when no activity was spotted around the room, the hotel officials knocked on the door but did not get any response.

On Tuesday, hotel officials tried to contact the guests by calling the phone number they had written in the register, but there was no response either.

Later in the day, the officials alerted the local police station and helped the cops break open the door.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of the death.