PRAYAGRAJ/LUCKNOW: Five members of a family, including three children, were found dead at their home in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place in Khagalpur village under Nawabganj police station area on Friday night, they said.
Prayagraj Superintendent of Police Abhishek Agarwal said Rahul (42), his wife Priti (38) and their daughters Mahi (15), Pihu (13) and Kuhu (11) were found dead at their home.
A forensic team and a dog squad are at the spot for investigation. Rahul was found hanging from the roof, the other deceased had injuries from a sharp object on their neck.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Prayagraj) Ajay Kumar said, "The body of the house owner, Rahul, was found hanging from the ceiling with a saree and it had no injury marks. Three chairs were stacked where his body was found, indicating that he committed suicide.
"The bodies of Rahul's wife and three daughters bore injury marks inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon, which suggests murder. Both these angles are being probed." The post mortem report of Rahul's body that came on Saturday evening confirmed that he had committed suicide by hanging himself from the roof with a saree, said senior police officials.
The police received information about the incident around 7.30 am. Seven teams have been formed to probe the case, the SSP said.
According to Rahul's sister and brother-in-law, he was embroiled in a dispute with his in-laws for a while, the police said.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the incident, saying the state has "drowned in crime".
"Under the rule of BJP government 2.0, UP has drowned in crime. Today's crime list," he tweeted in Hindi along with a screenshot of a news channel.
Replying to Yadav, a senior police official said a preliminary probe indicates that the head of the family killed the others before committing suicide.
"A preliminary probe indicates that the house owner killed his family before committing suicide due to a family dispute, " Additional Director General, Prayagraj zone, Prem Prakash tweeted in Hindi.
Terming the incident "extremely sad," Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in Lucknow said the truth behind the incident will be known once the probe is completed.
"The incident is being probed seriously and expeditiously. The reason behind it will be known (after the investigation). The guilty will not be spared," he said.
Asked about the Opposition's criticism over the incident, Maurya said, "At a time when the police are probing the incident and trying to catch the culprits, people should wait. The guilty will not be able to escape, even if any opposition leader tries to save them."
In another incident in the Sorawa village of the district, a woman was hit on her head by her husband in a family brawl resulting in her death.
Sorawa police station in-charge Sudhir Kumar said following a quarrel on Friday night, Sorawa resident Malak Chaudhary hit his wife on her head with a blunt object leading to her death.
In yet another incident, the body of Rambabu of Bari village of the district was found the previous night.
The victim had moved out of the home following a telephone call and later his body with deep injuries on his head was found.
The injuries indicated an attack by an iron rod. The body was found at some distance from his home in the village.