A family of five allegedly died by suicide and their bodies were found in an abandoned car in Tamil Nadu's Pudukkottai district, said police. The car was found parked on the Trichy-Karaikudi National Highway on Wednesday morning. Locals alerted the cops after seeing the car parked at the same spot in Namanasamudran since the previous evening.
The deceased have been identified as 50-year-old Manigandan, his wife Nitya (48), his mother Saroja (70), daughter Niharika (22) and son Dheeran (20). He was a resident of State Bank Colony in Salem district. Locals saw the car parked in front of a monastery in Ilankudipatti at 9 am and informed the police.
Namansamudram station police in Pudukottai district recovered the bodies and sent them to Pudukottai Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.
According to preliminary investigation, it is suspected that everyone committed suicide by consuming poison. However, the confirmed reason for the mass suicide is not yet known. Manigandan who was into the metal business had recently taken a lot of loans for business.
The police is investigating whether there was any pressure on him from the loan givers or business partners.
