A 42-year-old priest died while three of this family members were critical after all of them allegedly tried to commit suicide, police said today.
Yedida Srinivasa Sarma, the priest at the local Sri Subharamanyaswara Swamy Temple, his wife Subbalakshmi (38) and sons Akhile (17) and Anile (16) allegedly consumed a soft drink laced with pesticide last night at their home in Indrapallam village near Kakinada in East Godavari district, Indrapallam police station's sub-inspector P Tirupatirao said.
On getting information about the incident from their neighbours, police rushed to the spot and took the four family members to Government General Hospital in Kakinada, he said.
While the priest died on way to the hospital, his wife and sons were stated to be in a critical condition.
The family was apparently facing financial problems which is suspected to be the reason behind their extreme step. The priest was reportedly under pressure to repay the money that he had taken from some private lenders and was finding it difficult to pay for his children's education, police said.
The deceased's elder son was pursuing a course in chartered accountancy while the younger one was studying in Class XII at Kakinada.
A case has been registered in this connection, police said.
