June 01, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1429

LAHORE, May 31: A woman, her mother and four children were found slain at their house in the Shalimar area on Saturday evening.

Sajid, a Punjab Agriculture Department employee, who was living in the house of his wife in Muhammad Din Colony, told police he retuned home from his office situated on Davis Road on Saturday afternoon to find his wife Uzma (36) and children Jawad, Kashif, Fahad and Basma (all aged between five and 10) slain at the ground flour. He said later he found his mother-in-law Sarwar Khanum (65) slain in the upper portion of the house.

Senior Superintendent Police (Operations) Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmed told Dawn the killer(s) slit the throats of all the victims with sharp-edged weapon(s) and fled without taking away anything from the house. All the doors and windows of the house were intact and there were no signs of forced entry, he said.

According to circumstantial evidence, the killers just slaughtered the victims and went away, he added.

“It is yet to be ascertained whether the gruesome murders are a result of some old enmity or any other factor was involved,” he said.

Meanwhile, police preserved the crime scene, collected forensic evidence and drew photographs of the bodies and different parts of the house.

According to the neighbours, they did not see any one entering or leaving the house. An investigator told Dawn that according to Sajid’s statement, after reaching home he took a bath and changed clothes before informing police about the incident, which seemed to be abnormal for a man whose whole family was slain.

The prime suspect Sajid, the investigator said, also removed all dialed and received numbers from his cell phone. He said Sajid was giving contradictory statements without being sentimental.

The initial investigation revealed that the five-marla house, where Sajid was living, had recently been transferred in his wife’s name.