BANGALORE: A prominent assistant of former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, his wife and their daughter and son committed suicide at their East Bangalore home on Thursday.

The bodies of N Gopi, 45, his wife Jayashri, 38, son Dilip, 17 and daughter Sangeeta, 15, were found in their residence at Nagavarapalya, Byappanahalli, by a relative who went there because there was no response to his phone calls since afternoon.

The relative peeped through a window and found Gopi hanging from the fan in the hall. He alerted police, who rushed to the spot, broke down the door and found three more bodies in the bedroom.

A death note written by Gopi in Kannada read: ‘We are responsible for our death’. In the two-page note, Gopi also wrote about his work and sacrifice for Kannada. He was a regular presence next to Vatal Nagaraj during the latter’s protests and public activities.

Investigation revealed that Gopi hanged himself after confirming that the other three had ended their lives by consuming poison. “Gopi placed flowers on the three bodies and then hanged himself,” Byappanahalli police said.

Jayashri managed a grocery shop at Nagavarapalya. While Dilip was studying II PUC-Arts at Siddaganga Arts and Commerce College, Tumkur, Sangeeta was a Class X student in a government school in Nagavarapalya.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Gopi was deep in debt. “Gopi had borrowed heavily from friends and relatives claiming he needed it for his pro-Kannada activities. But we have no idea what went wrong and what made him take this extreme step,” Venkata Muniswamy, a close family member, said.

Muniswamy tried calling Gopi several times but there was no response. Around 5.30pm, he went to Gopi’s house and called again. “I heard the mobile ringing and then peeped through the window and saw Gopi hanging,” he said.

Vatal Nagaraj said Gopi didn’t have any financial problems. “He was my right hand and I’m deeply hurt by the incident. He never discussed any finance-related problem with me,” Nagaraj told reporters.