Three members of a Malayali family were found dead inside their apartment in Pimpri near Pune, Maharashtra. The deceased have been identified as Vinod Pillai (52), his wife Silja (52), and their daughter Poornima (20).

The family, originally from Valiyavila in Thiruvananthapuram, had been settled in Maharashtra for over two decades, according to relatives.

The incident came to light on Saturday after Silja, a teacher at a school in Pimpri, failed to report for work. When repeated phone calls from the school authorities went unanswered, they alerted neighbours, who later found the three dead inside the apartment.

"Silja did not go to school on Saturday. The school authorities tried to contact her, but there was no response. A subsequent search found the trio dead inside the flat," Vinod's brother-in-law told Onmanorama.

He said Vinod had been working as a research assistant with a US-based firm in Pune but had not been attending work for some time.

"The family moved to Pune many years ago and visited Kerala only occasionally. Vinod's mother lives with our family in Kottayam, and they were in regular contact with her. However, we do not know what led to this incident," he said while travelling to Pune.

Residents of Valiyavila said the family had little contact with their native place. "Their house here has remained locked for a long time. We hardly know them or even remember their faces," Valiyavila councillor V G Girikumar said.

Meanwhile, the Vattiyoorkavu police said they had not yet received any official intimation regarding the incident from the Maharashtra police. The exact cause of the deaths is yet to be ascertained, and an investigation is underway.