Sasaram: Apparently under financial stress, Bhojpuri singer Vikash Rai and four members of his family allegedly committed suicide while another member was admitted to hospital in critical condition in Rohtas district of Bihar, police said today.
Singer Vikash Rai (18), his father Santosh Kumar Rai (50), mother Sunita Devi (40), younger brother Vishal Rai (16), and sister Beauty Kumari (15) were found dead, Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mohammad Rahman said.
Vishal Rai was a budding singer. His younger brother Ravi Rai alias Golu (12) was admitted in critical condition at the Narayani Medical College and Hospital.
"This is apparently a case of suicide which happpened last night. The deceased include minors. The bodies were recovered this morning from a room in their house, which was closed from inside," Mr Rahman said.
Rohtas Superintendent of Police (SP) Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande said the bodies were recovered from their house at posh Lala Colony under Dehri police station in the district.
"It seems that the entire family ate sweets laced with poison. There is no sign of forced eating. Indications are that the deceased took poison in a willful manner. Heavy quantity of Aluminium Phosphide tablets, better known as Sulphas, which is used as pesticide, have been recovered from the place. However, we are still probing the incident from all angles," Mr Lande said.
The family had mixed the pesticide in almost all eatable or drinkable things in the house.
"Heavy presence of aluminium phosphide was detected in water, juices, milk, sweets and other eatables in the house. Our teams have collected samples and sent them for forensic analysis," Lande said.
The police said the reason behind suicide could be heavy financial loss as Santosh had sold his land, house, vehicles and other property to chart out a singing career for his sons.
He had also invested a lot of money in bringing out music albums of his sons, which did not do well in the market.
"One more son of Santosh, who lives at another place, had telephoned him last night. He corroborated heavy financial losses suffered by his father. He said Santosh seemed very frustrated over phone and was repeating that he has lost all his possessions," Mr Lande said.