(Ranjan, I am your elder brother. I have submitted all my pension papers in the school in November, but am yet to get the pension. They made all arrangements to send me behind the bars. We cannot live with the disgrace of being labelled thieves. So I have killed your sister-in-law and Palu and I will also kill myself.)

Sixty-year-old Ramesh Porel sent this SMS from the cellphone of son Prasenjit (28), nicknamed Palu, to his younger brother Ranjan.

After sending the SMS at 12.30 am, Porel, a retired accounts clerk of Usangini Girls’ School at Salkia School Road, apparently killed his wife, Aparna (50), and only son Prasenjit, a computer student. He then hanged himself. The tragedy took place at Porel’s residence at 21/1, Kaibarta Para Lane at Salkia, Howrah, in the Malipanchghara police station area.

The cellphone of Ranjan, an employee with a private company and a resident of AC, 199 in Salt Lake, was switched off. At 7.45 am, while on his way to office, he switched the phone on.

“Initially, I did not believe it. I tried to call both Palu’s mobile and also the landline number of my elder brother. But no one responded. I reached the spot with my relatives Swapan Senapati, Arun Santra and Tapan Santra. The house was locked from the outside. We called them but got no response. Then I informed the police,” Ranjan said.

Police broke into the two-storied building to find the three bodies in the ground floor bedroom.

Aparna’s body was found on the bed, covered with a quilt. Prasenjit's body was hanging from the latches of a wall almirah, with his legs tied together. Ramesh’s body was found hanging from the ceiling.

A suicide note was found in the room, which was almost a repeat of the SMS sent to Ranjan.

Niraj Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Howrah, said: “Preliminary investigation revealed that Ramesh himself killed his wife and son and then hanged himself. We have sent the bodies for postmortem. The State Forensic Laboratory will also help probe the matter.”

The school authorities have been asked about Ramesh's pension-related problems, he said.

Headmistress Namita Sahu said: “Ramesh Porel was involved in misappropriation of funds during his service tenure. He also did not submit all documents required for clearance of the pension.” Sahu, however, refused to answer questions on how or when the misappropriation had taken place, whether the police was informed and whether charges against Porel were investigated. The police, too, remained mum on the issue.

Archana Pachar, elder sister of Aparna, said: “I still can't believe that my brother-in-law can take such a drastic step. He was an honest man. Locals and his former colleagues loved and respected him. They were a happy family.”