The mysterious deaths of five members of a family in an Uttar Pradesh district on Monday has left their relatives and neighbours shocked and perplexed.

The reported incident came to light on Tuesday after the neighbours of the five-membered family realized that none of them had woken up that morning. They immediately alerted the police, who after a brief investigation, found all five of them dead. The victims have been identified as Vegraj (60), a retired Railway employee, his wife Ramvati Devi (50), son Nem Chandra (32), daughter-in-law Mamta Devi (28), and daughter Gayatri Kumari (26).

Due to the absence of injury marks on any of their bodies, the police suspect that the family had died of poisoning after a half-empty vessel of milk was found by the side of the deceased. “Prima facie it appears that all the family members died after consuming poison-laced milk at night, as suspected by the forensic team. They have taken a sample of the milk and it has been sent for a laboratory test,” the superintendent of police said in a statement.

While the forensic team has arrived at the crime spot and is currently interrogating the neighbours and relatives, the police suspect land dispute/mass suicide as the probable causes of death.