PESHAWAR, Aug 27: A man committed suicide after killing his wife and three children here on Friday. The reason for the multiple murder and the man's suicide are not known, police said.

The tragic incident happened in the jurisdiction of Faqirabad police station. According to the police, Salahuddin Shinwari, a customs clearing agent and resident of Faqirabad No 2, shot dead his wife Yasmeen, 32, daughter Maryam, 15, and sons Mashal, 11, and Muhammad Ali, 9, at about 5am when they were asleep.

All the three children were students of Peshawar Model School, relatives said. The man committed suicide after killing his family. He used 30-bore and 32-bore pistols fitted with silencer, police said.

According to hospital and police sources, all the victims received bullets in their skulls and died on the spot. Police said that once he had carried out the ghastly act, the killer told her sister about this on phone and said that he was about to kill himself, too.

On being informed of the incident, relatives rushed to his house. They broke open the doors and entered the room where the deceased lay in a pool of blood. The bodies were shifted to a hospital for autopsy.

The relatives expressed doubt that a 30-bore pistol fitted with silencer had been used in the murder.