Police said prima facie it appears to be a case of poisoning, though it has to be ascertained whether it is a case of forced poisoning or otherwise.
In a tragic incident, six dead bodies, five of a single family, were found from two houses located at Tawi Vihar locality in Sidhra on the outskirts of Jammu city late on Tuesday, said officials.
“Prima facie it appears to be a case of poisoning, though it has to be ascertained whether it is a case of forced poisoning or otherwise,” said Jammu district police chief, SSP Chandan Kohli.
“On Tuesday, at around 10pm, police received a telephonic call from a woman. She told us that her brother Noor-ul-Habib in Sidhra was not picking up her calls and she had apprehensions that he might have committed suicide,” said the SSP.
Police rushed to the spot and found doors of the house bolted from inside.
A foul smell was also emanating from the house.
“The doors of the house were forcibly broken in the presence of civil witnesses (locals of Tawi Vihar Colony Sidhra). We found four dead bodies inside the house. A team of FSL experts and photographers were called in. An inquest proceeding has been initiated,” said the SSP.
“The locals of the area informed us that the four dead bodies were of Noor-ul-Habib aged (55), son of Habibullah of Barzulla in Srinagar, Sakina Begum, aged (62), widow of Ghulam Hassan, Sajad Ahmed (17), son of Farooq Ahmed Magray and Nassema Akhter (40), daughter of late Ghulam Hassan,” he informed.
The locals also informed the police that there was another house in Tawi Vihar, which belonged to one of the four dead.
Accordingly, the police party went there and opened the doors of that house and found two more dead bodies, said the SSP.
The deceased were identified as Rubina Bano (32), daughter of Ghulam Hussain and Zafar Salim (28), son of Ghulam Hussain.
“Similar, a probe has been ordered to ascertain the cause as well as motive behind the deaths,” said Kohli.
“The family worked for Noor-ul-Habib and lived in his house. They were like a family. They hailed from Doda and Noor-ul-Habib belonged to Barzulla in Srinagar,” the SSP said.
The dead bodies were shifted to GMC Jammu for autopsy and will be handed over to the legal heirs after medico legal formalities.
A SIT headed by SP rural, Sanjay Sharma, SDPO Nagrota Pardeep Kumar, SHO Nagrota inspector Vishav Partap and Sidhra police post incharge Majid Hussain has been formed to investigate the matter.
