An elderly couple was found hanging in their Mukundapur apartment while their son and daughter-in-law were in office on Tuesday, police said.
Dulal Paul, 66, a driver by profession, and his wife Rekha, 58, allegedly left a note blaming their son and daughter-in-law for their death. The police said the preliminary post-mortem suggested the deaths were suicidal.
“The couple left a suicide note that mentioned their son and daughter-in-law and held them responsible. We have started a probe,” said Rupesh Kumar, joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata Police.
On Tuesday evening, the police received an alert that the occupants of the first-floor apartment at 7/84 Mukundapur were neither answering the doorbell nor responding to phone calls.
Officers of East Jadavpur police station went to the spot and found the collapsible gate locked from inside. The cops broke into the house and found the body of the elderly man hanging from a ceiling fan in the dining space and the body of the woman hanging in a bedroom. They were declared dead at NRS hospital.
The police found that the elderly couple lived in the flat with their son, a physiotherapist, and his wife, who works as a tailor for a hosiery products manufacturing company.
“We gathered from relatives and neighbours that the parents had a strained relationship with the son and daughter-in-law and often had fights. On Tuesday morning, they had a heated argument,” said an officer.
Based on the suicide note, the police questioned the son and his wife.
Later, the cops said they received a complaint of abetment to suicide against the son and daughter-in law and a case was started.
“Both the deceased persons died because of the effects of ante-mortem hanging. The autopsy surgeon has verbally said that the deaths were suicidal,” said an officer.
Apart from the ligature mark, no other injury marks were found on the bodies.