Five members of a family, including three minor girls, were found dead after they took food laced with pesticides in Nalgonda district of Telangana, police said on Saturday.
Police suspect that Ramesh (40), a small-time businessman and his 70-year-old mother Padma committed suicide after making his three daughters -- Swaroopa (8), Kaveri (5), Nandini (3) -- eat the poisonous food.
The incident occurred on the outskirts of Bhongir town.
All of them had consumed sweets, cold drinks and fruits laced with some pesticide which resulted in death, an officer investigating the case said, adding the bodies were recovered during early hours today.
"Of late, Ramesh was suffering from health problems.
Besides it, he was also under financial distress which may have led him to end his life along with other family members.
His wife had passed away around a year back," the official told PTI based on preliminary investigation.
A case has been booked with Bhongir Police and further investigations were on.