Police have recovered the charred bodies of a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable, his wife and eight-year-old son, from their house at Baghasan village in East Burdwan’s Manteswar on Tuesday morning.

Police sources said the constable was identified as Sudeb Chandra Dey, 39, his wife Rekha, 29 and their son Snehanshu, 8.

The constable’s 11-year-old daughter, who had called up her uncle on Monday to seek help as the house was on fire, has survived but is admitted at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital with extensive burns.

Dey was posted as a constable at Katwa railway station in East Burdwan for the past five years and his family used to live in his ancestral home at Baghasan village. He had come home on leave on Monday.

Basudeb Dey, elder brother of the constable, said he had received the distress call from his niece. Basudeb suspected his brother had died by suicide. “The door was not closed from inside but an almirah was placed behind it to prevent anyone from entering easily,” he said. East Burdwan cops also suspect it to be a case of suicide.

“We are investigating to know whether it was a case of suicide,” said a police officer in Kalna.

RPF inspector Vivek Singh, who visited Sudeb’s kin at Kalna subdivisional hospital, claimed that he had no issues or problems at his workplace and had been a responsible cop during his tenure at Katwa RPF post.

Cannabis seized

The police seized around 122kg of cannabis, valued at Rs 50 lakh, from a car, and arrested two persons in Birbhum’s Dubrajpur on early Tuesday morning.

Police sources said that preliminary investigation revealed that the cannabis had been bought from Manipur and the consignment was routed to Birbhum through Jharkhand.

The arrested duo — Tapas Garai and Dipak Garai — are residents of Dubrajpur.

Shyam Singh, Birbhum police chief said there were three more persons in the car and the police have started a raid to arrest them. Police officers said the cannabis was hidden under the seat of the car.