The deceased have been identified as Duryodhan Moharana, his wife Nalini, father-in-law Bangali Moharana, mother-in-law Pramoda, daughters Rosy (12) and Jimia (8) and son Papu (140.

However, police said Duryodhan killed his family members and later hanged himself with a cable wire.

Police said they had questioned Duryodhan's friends and relatives. They had found that Duryodhan was a devotee of the Goddess Kali and indulged in black magic.

Earlier, he had offered blood at a Kali temple by slashing his thighs. Police suspect that Duryodhan sacrificed his family members and himself to propitiate the Goddess Kali.

Duryodhan, an assistant foreman in the National Aluminium Company (Nalco) at Angul, who was on transit leave for the past two months after being transferred to Damanjodi,was staying with his wife, children and in-laws at Taradapada.

According to police, Papu was found hanging from an iron rod on the roof with his legs tied by one Birabar Das and some college students while they were passing by the house on Wednesday morning.

They then informed the police, who had to break open the back door of the house. It was then that they found all the family members lying dead in pools of blood in different rooms.

Thier necks had been slit, police said. A blood-stained blade, believed to hav been used to kill them, has been seized.

Curiously enough, thighs of all the deceased were also slashed.

Duryodhan, the suspected killer, was found hanging from the ceiling in one room. Although the exact reason is yet to be ascertained, police suspect that mounting debts forced Duryodhan to commit the ghastly murder.

Two names -- Chaita Ojha (of Taradapada) and Abhimanyu Jena (of Lahanga) -- had been written in blood on a wall.

Ojha and Jena, besides two others -- Pratap MohantyandGyanendra Pal -- who rented a room of Duryodhan's house for business purposes, are being interrogated by police. Ojha, a carpenter, was engaged in renovating Duryodhan's house while Jena was a family friend.

District Superintendent of Police Lalit Das and District Collector Niten Chandra also rushed to the village during the day.

The bodies were later sent for post-morten. Investigations reveal that all the family members were killed while sleeping and were found lying dead in their respective beds, Das maintained. Sniffer dogs and a scientific team have been pressed into service.