Kolkata, Nov 19 (IANS) Unable to repay his debt, a businessman in Kolkata poisoned his wife and 13-year-old son before attempting suicide, the police said Wednesday. While his wife and the son died Tuesday, the trader was fighting for his life at a state-run hospital, the police said.

District Superintendent of Police Ajay Ranade told reporters that letters found in the house of the couple in Sree Colony of Bijoygarh, in the neighbouring South 24-Parganas district, indicated he had taken a lot of loans he was unable to repay.

“They owed money to a lot of people,” Ranade said.

“From circumstantial evidence, it seems the couple tried to commit suicide after poisoning their 13-year-old son,” Ranade added.

People in the locality entered the house after hearing groans and found the trader, Swapan Banerjee, 48, writhing in pain, while his wife Urmi and son Rajrup seemed stiff.

At hospital, Urmi and Rajrup were pronounced dead.

“The family had seemed upset over the last few days, and confessed that they were overburdened with loan,” a neighbour said.

According to police sources, Swapan had taken a loan of about Rs.3 million, mainly from three people.

“Swapan had taken a loan worth at least Rs.3 million from banker Asit Chakraborty, promoter Dipak Ganguly, and the colony treasurer, Surajit Majumder. It seems these people were pressurising him for repayment,” said the sources.

A suicide note was found and investigations are on, the police said.