An elderly couple in Jalpaiguri town died under mysterious circumstances on Saturday morning.

Police suspect they consumed poison.

The deceased, Subodh Bhattacharya, 67, and his wife Aparna, 57, lived in Pandapara-Joy Lane in ward 12.

Subodh was a lawyer and Aparna an active political worker who was the vice-chairperson of Jalpaiguri municipality when the Left Front was in power.

Sources said that early on Saturday, Sweta, Aparna’s niece, who was sleeping with their daughter Tania in a room, heard the couple's groans from their bedroom. Sweta found Subodh on the floor and Aparna on the bed, and a strong odour, which she could not identify, in their bedroom. She immediately informed her father, Aparna’s brother, Uttam Kumar Gautam, who stays nearby.

Rushed to the Jalpaiguri Medical College and Hospital, doctors pronounced Subodh dead. Aparna died soon afterwards.