A husband and wife and their three children were mysteriously found dead on Tuesday at their house in Masoom Shah colony of Hyderabad, within the jurisdiction of Cantonment police station, said officials.

The deceased were identified as Kifayat Sheikh, 40, his wife Shaheen, sons Khizar, 5, Mairaj, 2, and three-year-old daughter Shanza. The bodies were shifted to Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) city branch for autopsy.

Police and forensic experts collected different pieces of possible evidence from the room, where the bodies were found.

Kifayat was living in joint family system at a ground plus two storey house. The tragedy was disclosed by Kifayat’s mother who upon her return from Karachi went upstairs in the evening after no one from Kifayat’s family came downstairs to receive her.

Police investigation in charge Aslam Langah told media that the elderly woman switched off gas heater in the room which was locked from inside. He said that the mother entered the room from a side entrance. After seeing bodies, she reportedly came downstairs while screaming.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hyderabad Irfan Baloch hinted at asphyxia as possible reason because no suicidal note was found or no other use of poison was apparently observed.

He said quoting a medico legal officer that the faces of bodies had bluish signs which indicates suffocation and asphyxia. He, however, said that forensic experts were collecting evidence for chemical examination to see whether it was a case of poisoning or not.