Decomposed bodies of four members of a family have been found in their flat in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, police said.

The deceased persons were identified as 52-year-old Brindaban Karmakar, a cloth merchant, his wife Debasree Karmakar, who was in her forties, their 17-year-old daughter Debaleena and eight-year-old son Utsaha, a police officer said.

The bodies were found on Sunday in the closed apartment on M S Mukherjee Road in Khardah area.

The police suspect that the man murdered his family members by poisoning them and then died by suicide.

His body was found hanging from the ceiling, while three other bodies were in different places in the flat, he said.

A suicide note was also found, in which the man claimed that his wife had an extra-marital affair and he could not bear it, hence he took the extreme step, the officer said.

Locals said the police after they found a foul smell emanating from the apartment. The door had to be broken open as it was bolted from inside, he said.

A forensic team visited the spot, and further investigation is underway, the officer added.

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