Burdened with debt, a man murdered his wife and two children and then killed himself in their flat in Pimpri this morning. Vijay Poojari (50) strangled his wife Sudha (40), daughter Prerna (18) and son Pratik (10) before hanging himself, the police said.

Vijay was a labour contractor and Sudha a teacher at Jaihind Primary School in Pimpri. Prerna was a first year student at Manghanmal Udharam College of Commerce and Pratik a fifth-grade student at Jaihind School.

“Vijay first stabbed his daughter and then strangled her, as the wounds indicate. Then he strangled his wife and son with a nylon rope. Techincally, we have registered a case of murder against Vijay,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Prabhakar Patil.

The debt for which Vijay killed himself, it appeared, was not for himself but for another man. Patil said, “We found a suicide note in the house. Vijay wrote that he was committing suicide because he was in debt. He had taken Rs 23 lakh from a friend in February and given it to another man, Deepak Kashyap. Kashyap did not return the money by May 1 as promised. On June 30 and July 1, Kashyap issued two cheques that bounced. Humiliated and unable to repay the loan, Vijay said he had no option but to suicide. We are registering a case of abetment against Kashyap who is untraceable.”

Sudha’s mother stays in the same building at Victory Co operative Housing Society near Deluxe Theatre chowk. Neighbour Satish Ghoderao said, “Sudha’s mother repeatedly knocked on the door this morning. When no one responded, she informed us. From outside we could hear the TV playing, but nobody was opening the door. So we got in touch with advocate Deepak Palande, who informed the police,” he added. The police broken open the door and found the bodies.

Sudha had worked with Jaihind Primary School for 26 years, said principal Jyotika Malkani. “She was very hardworking teacher. Initially with the pre-primary section, she was promoted because of her good track record,” said a shocked Malkani, adding: “Sudha had attended school on Saturday and interacted with parents as usual. When I mentioned a weak child, Sudha told me not to worry and she would take care of the child from Monday. She was so cheerful. Colleagues told her that her saree was shining and she was all smiles,” the principal said.