LAHORE, May 14: An elderly woman, her daughter-in-law and her three-year-old grandson were stabbed to death allegedly by unidentified killers at their Aziz Road house in the Misri Shah area on Wednesday.The mother and her minor son died in different hospitals, while the elderly woman was found dead on the spot.

The victims were identified as Miraaj Bibi, 72, wife of Muhammad Hafeez, her daughter-in-law Rehana Bibi, 27, wife of Muhammad Farooq, and grandson Zeeshan, son of Farooq.

Farooq’s one-year-old daughter, however, was recovered alive from a kitchen cupboard.

Police registered a case under sections 302 and 392 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 ATA on Farooq’s complaint.

Farooq told the police that the killers also took away Rs100,000 in cash, 40-tola gold ornaments and prize bonds worth thousands.

According to initial investigation, Farooq, who dealt in plastic scarp, left for his shop in Shahdara at around 9:15am. Around 12:30pm, Farooq tried to contact his wife through cell phone and landline numbers, but received no response despite repeated attempts. He finally made a call to his sister, who lived near his house, asking her to visit his house as no body was attending the phones.

Farooq’s sister reached his two-and-a-half marla house, but nobody responded to her repeated knocks. She then called the neighbours for help who pushed open the door which had an internal lock and a thin rope latch.

Entering the house, they found Rehana lying injured with critical stab wounds on the ground flour and Zeeshan on the first flour. Miraaj Bibi was found dead with serious injuries.

Zeeshan was rushed to Mayo Hospital and Rehana to Shalimar Hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

A search was soon launched for the one-year-old daughter of Farooq who was found gagged in a cupboard of kitchen.

The Ravi Town police superintendent told Dawn that circumstantial evidence suggested the victims knew the killer(s) as they served drinks to them. A jug, along with two half-filled glasses, was found on the table, he added. He said a hammer was also found from the crime scene with blood spots on its handle.

The SP said the killer cleaned his hands with a muffler after committing the crime, washed

it and escaped along with murder weapon(s), cash and valuables. The killer(s), he said, conducted a selected search of the couple’s bedroom on the ground flour.

He said according to Farooq, he had no enmity with anyone and nobody else was present in his house except the victims on Wednesday. The neighbours too did not notice anybody entering the house, he said.