Woman, two daughters murdered in Guwahati

A 48-year-old woman and her two daughters were found murdered inside their home on Saturday here in Assam's main city, police said.

The bodies of Priyanka Kashyap and her two daughters were found in Hatigaon area.

Police later found the car of her husband Pranab Mahanta near the Saraighat bridge over the Brahmaputra in Guwahati, leading police to suspect that Mahanta committed suicide by jumping into the river after killing his family members.

The bodies were found on two beds. They had injury marks on their heads and circumstantial evidence show they were murdered using a hammer, Guwahati Commissioner of Police Mukesh Agarwala said.

"The three were murdered probably using a hammer, which police official found in one of the beds. We are conducting forensic tests for confirmation. There is also a note near the bodies, which says Mahanta is responsible for the crime," he said.

Police said Pranab Mahanta had called up his brother-in-law Naba Mahanta in Nagaon district, about 100 km from Guwahati, around 5.30 a.m. and then switched off his phone.

"I rushed to Guwahati soon after I came to know about the incident on TV," Naba Mahanta told newsmen.

Meanwhile, river police personnel launched a search operation but were yet to find anything.

Pranab Mahanta has a cooking gas agency in neighbouring Morigaon district and a tent house business in Guwahati.

According to his relatives, he was suffering from depression after a person refused to pay him back lakhs of rupees which he had lent a few years ago.