LUCKNOW: Five members of a family, including a woman and her four daughters, were found murdered inside a hotel room in Lucknow on Wednesday morning, police said.
The police have arrested one Arshad, the deceased woman’s son, in connection with the murders.
The family, originally from Agra, had come to Lucknow to celebrate the New Year.
The bodies were found inside a room at hotel Sharanjeet situated in Naka area of the city.
The deceased have been identified as Aliya (9), Alishiya (19), Aksa (16), Raheeman (18)and their mother Asma.
Police said that Arshad, confessed during preliminary interrogation to murdering his four sisters and mother. He claimed the family was being harassed by neighbours, and he feared for their safety if something happened to him. Driven by this fear, he decided to kill them, DCP Central Zone, Raveena Tyagi said.
Arshad took his family to Ajmer before returning to Lucknow, where he checked them into a hotel. At night, he gave them alcohol, suffocated some with cloth and a scarf, and slit the wrists of others with a blade.
His father assisted him in committing the murders.
After the act, Arshad dropped his father at the railway station and went to the police station to report the crime. Based on his disclosure, the police recovered the murder weapons, including a blade and a scarf.
Arshad’s father, Badar, is currently on the run, and CCTV footage from the railway station is being reviewed to identify and apprehend him.
Further interrogation is underway, and evidence is being collected to verify every detail of the incident.
