Bankura, Jan. 25: A farmer, his wife and two children have been found dead, foaming at the mouth, in a Bankura village. Police said it could be a suicide pact or even murder.

The dead were identified as Debdulal Ghosh, 44, his wife Bandana, 36, their daughter Seema, 16, and son Shibshankar, 10.

Debdulal’s brother Gurupada, who lives in a different house in the same compound, said the lights of his brother’s home were still glowing around 10.30 last night. “This was unusual,” he told the police. “They go to bed by 9pm.”

He went up to the house and knocked the door but there was no reply. Gurupada then called neighbours and broke open the door. They found Bandana and the children on the bed, writhing in pain and moaning. “There was froth coming out of their mouths.”

The residents of Khichka village, about 270km from Calcutta, rushed the three to a rural hospital about 10km away. But the children died on the way. Bandana died at the hospital this morning.

“The deaths were because of pesticide poisoning. It was possibly mixed in their food,” Bankura police chief Vishal Garg said.

Initially, there was no trace of Debdulal, prompting the police to suspect he had poisoned his family and fled. But his body was found later this morning in a field about 300 metres from his home. Debdulal was a farmer and owned a small plot nearby. His brother said he was also into gambling.