A couple and their son were found hanging from two iron hooks on the ceiling of their home in Joka on Wednesday morning.

Police suspect all three committed suicide. “The exact cause of the deaths will be known after the post-mortem report comes,” an officer said.

Findings of a preliminary inquiry suggest a financial crisis could be the reason for the three taking their lives, police sources said.

The man of the house, 50-year-old Chandrabrata Mandal, was a Group D employee at a government office; his wife Mayarani, 45, had started a sari business. Their son Supriyo, 23, used to trade in birds, the police said.

Residents of the locality ‑ Patropara ‑ said Supriyo had sold all his birds three days ago.

“It appears the family had sought financial help from some relatives to repay a bank loan. Some relatives said they were suffering from financial distress,” said a senior officer of the south-west police division of Calcutta police.

A number of suicides were reported over the past few months that were directly or indirectly related to the lockdown, which resulted in many people losing their livelihood or suffering financial losses.

The police said they were probing the reason behind the Thakurpukur incident.

Mandal was in a habit of going out for walks in the morning. Wednesday was an exception.

Around 7.45am on Wednesday, a few neighbours and relatives of the Mandals (some of the relatives live in the same locality) knocked on the door to enquire why Chandrabrata had not gone for his daily walk.

As no one responded, one of the relatives accessed the terrace of the two-storey building and entered the house through the rooftop door.

On entering the house, the neighbours and relatives found the couple and the son hanging from two iron hooks on the ceiling in the same room, the eyewitnesses told the police. The hooks are used to hang fans. The Mandals were taken to Vidyasagar State General Hospital in Behala, where all three were declared dead.

There were no apparent signs of foul play, the police said. No suicide note was found