A couple who had borrowed around Rs 45 lakh so their son could realise his dream of becoming a commercial pilot were found dead at home on Ashtami evening.

A purported suicide note suggests Tapan Chattopadhyay, 65, and his wife Aruna Devi, 55, were in financial distress.

Police said the couple’s son Arpan — their only child — had come home from Delhi on vacation and alerted neighbours when no one answered the doorbell.

The police broke open the door of the family’s rented apartment in Panchasayar, off the Bypass, and found the elderly man lying on the floor. His wife was spotted hanging from the ceiling.

“The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and a case of unnatural death has been registered,” an officer at Panchasayar police station said.

Investigating officers suspect Tapan and his wife had entered into a suicide pact.

A suicide note apparently written by Aruna — Arpan identified it as her mother’s handwriting — suggests the couple had become almost penniless trying to repay a loan of around Rs 45 lakh. Tapan, the police said, earned a living facilitating buying and selling of flats in and around New Garia and Garia, on the southern fringe of the city.

The letter, investigating officers said, also suggests the couple had slipped into a depression. “Tapan had possibly consumed poison. His body was found on the floor of the dining room of the flat. His wife’s body was found hanging from the ceiling of the drawing room,” the officer said. “It appears the couple had fallen into some debt trap. We will talk to their son for further details.”

The family has been living at the rented flat in Prafulla Apartment in Nayabad, in New Garia’s Panchasayar.

Tapan had taken loan from bank and other sources so that the couple’s 23-year-old son could become a commercial pilot, sleuths have learnt.

Arpan, undergoing training in the capital, returned on Wednesday evening. He pressed the doorbell and waited for some time. He then tried calling his father. As there was no response, Arpan alerted some of their neighbours, who got in touch with the police.

The websites of some of the centres offering pilot training courses say a candidate has to complete 200 hours of flight time for obtaining a commercial pilot’s licence.

Ground training, another component of the course, covers theory papers on air regulations, aviation meteorology, air navigation and other technical subjects.

The websites state that it costs anything between Rs 35 lakh and Rs 40 lakh to become a commercial pilot.

Arpan is believed to have told the police that he was undergoing flight training after completing ground training.