A 46-year-old executive, who was finding it difficult to repay loans following a pay-cut during the pandemic, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of the study in his flat at Neelachal Abasan, on the Rashbehari connector, on Wednesday evening.

Diptendra Mukherjee did not blame anyone for his death in an unsigned note he is believed to have left behind. Police said the note mentions that he was unable to bear the financial stress caused by the pandemic.

Diptendra’s wife, a homemaker, was not in their second-floor flat on Wednesday evening. The couple’s 10-year-old child was playing downstairs.

His wife returned around 7.30pm and rang the doorbell but no one answered. She entered the flat after breaking open the door latch only to find her husband hanging from the fan by a white stole.

Diptendra was rushed to Ruby General Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Friends said Diptendra used to work as the sales head of a company that offered an online platform to buy insurance policies for a range of items, including houses and vehicles. He had taken a loan to buy the flat in Uttara block (C-2) of Neelachal Abasan nearly five years ago.

His mother, sister and brother-in-law lived nearby on New Ballygunge Road.

“Diptendra told us that he had spent almost 18 years in the insurance sector. He told friends that his salary had recently been reduced,” said Indranil Ghosh, the president of the Neelachal Recreation Club, located in the housing complex.

“We have no clue what spurred him to kill himself. The man was full of life. He used to sing well and was an active member of our club.”

People close to the Mukherjees said Diptendra had been upset since the salary cut and had recently taken a personal loan to meet household expenses. The police said they learnt from some of the relatives of the couple that he was finding it difficult to pay the EMIs of the housing and personal loans.

On Thursday evening, while family members were busy performing the last rites, some of Diptendra’s friends said the family had recently met to discuss a way out of the loan trap. Apparently there was a suggestion that the couple sell the flat and move into a rented accommodation so that they could repay the loans. The couple even checked out an accommodation a few days ago, one of the relatives said.

But Diptendra did not like the idea, the relative said.

A 63-year-old man who police said lost his job during the lockdown had died after falling from the roof of his four-storey building on Golf Club Road early on December 4.

The police had said Soumitra Sen, who worked in the accounts section of a private firm, killed himself. No suicide note had been found, officers at Jadavpur police station said.