The deceased have been identified as Madan Lal Jaidiya (40), his wife Geeta Devi (34), two sons Vishal (16) and Prashant (12) and 18-year-old daughter Rajni. Two family dogs were also found dead in the house. Recalls Kamla, a neighbour, "Madan's youngest son Prashant came running to me and told me that his family members had consumed some tablets." Hearing this, the neighbours immediately rushed all the Jaidiya family members to the local Civil Hospital.

The cause of this extreme step could be the alleged injustice done to Madan, who had been suspended on trivial charges, say sources in the Railways. A few months ago, Madan had taken photographs of some of his department employees sleeping on duty. "He had sent the photographs to the Divisional Railway Manager at Bikaner, who, in turn chargesheeted at least half-a-dozen employeesfor their alleged dereliction of duty," said Jaipal, president, All-India SC/ST Railway Employees Association, Hisar.

In a retaliatory move, the affected employees, led by Tirath Raj and Mukesh Sharma, launched a signature campaign against Madan and complained against him to the Assistant Mechanical Engineer at Delhi, who ordered the Madan's suspension," the union leader said.