Sambalpur: Five members of a family have committed suicide by jumping before a train on the outskirts of the city.

The mutiliated bodies of the victims - Dharanidhar Panda, 52, his wife Sangita panda, 48, and their daughters Aparajita, 16, Ananya, 14, and Sraddha, 3 - were found lying on the railway tracks at Sarla on the Sambalpur-Jharsuguda main line.

Railway officials and a few local residents spotted the bodies and informed the Government Railway Police.

Police sources said the victims had jumped in front of the Sambalpur-bound DMU train in an isolated area around 8pm on Tuesday night and died on the spot. The GRP personnel found purse, mobile phone and a few bank ATM cards near the spot. From the mobile phone, the police called up Prakash Dash, Dharanidhar's brother-in-law who stays in Bargarh, and informed him about the matter. Prakash communicated the incident to other relatives, including Dharanidhar's two brothers.

His two brothers - Somenath and Raghunath - reached the spot early morning on Wednesday. Somenath, who works with the LIC, said there was no reason for Dharanidhar to take such extreme step. The couple were reportedly well to do. "We have never heard any differences among the family members," he said.

Although the reason behind the suicide was not immediately known, financial crisis may have led them to take such extreme step, said a local resident.Dharanidhar's neighbours said he had been undergoing financial crisis and facing difficulties in maintaining the family and the growing demands of his daughters.

At times, he was even disturbed over the provisions for his daughters' future education. Dharanidhar had also taken loans from various people, who reportedly used to come to his house to collect the money. "On many occasions, we heard them having arguments," said one of the neighbours, requesting anonymity.

Dharanidhar was working as a music teacher in Madanavati School. He was also an artist and performed at All India Radio, Sambalpur station. He was also associated with the Sambalpur Kala Parishad.

Aparajita was a Plus Two student of DAV School, Burla and Ananya was studying in Class X in Madanavati School.

Dharanidhar, originally a resident of Burda village in Bheden block of Bargarh district, was staying here in a rented house in Jagannath Colony.

Madnavati School principal Santiraj Pandey said Dharanidhar was a good man and one of the oldest teachers who had served for more than 20 years. "I could not believe that such a good person will take such extreme step. He attended school on Tuesday from 10am till 5pm. He used to maintain good relation with all the staff members," he said.

His elder daughter Aparajita had passed from Madnavati School and Ananya, who was in Class X, were both good students, the principal said.

The school was declared closed on Wednesday as a mark of respect to the teacher and his family, he said.