Six members of a family were found dead inside two homes in Sidhra town of Jammu on Wednesday, the police said, according to PTI.
The bodies of Noor Ul Habib, Sajad Ahmad Magrey, Sakina Begum and her daughter Naseema Akhter were found inside Habib’s house in the Tawi Vihar locality. The bodies of two more persons, Rubina Bano and her brother Zafar Salim, were found in a nearby home in the same neighbourhood.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu) Chandan Kohli said that prima facie, the deaths appeared to have taken place due to poisoning, The Tribune reported. The official, however, said that it is not clear whether it is a case of forced poisoning.
Kohli added that a four-member Special Investigation Team headed by Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sanjay Sharma has been formed to look into the matter.
A spokesperson for the police said that authorities received a call from Habib’s sister Shahzada, who expressed fear that her brother may have died by suicide as he was not picking up her calls. Shahzada reportedly lives in Srinagar’s Barzulla locality.
When the police reached Habib’s home, they found it locked from the inside, and a foul smell emanating from the partially decomposed bodies, the spokesperson added, according to PTI.
Residents reportedly told police officials that a home in the area belonged to a relative of the family named Ghulam Husain. The police found the other two bodies at Husain’s house.
The senior superintendent of police said that the bodies have been taken to the Government Medical College, Jammu for an autopsy. After medico-legal formalities are completed, the bodies will be handed over to the legal heirs of those who died, he said.
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