Four members of a family were hacked to death inside their house at Bahadurpur village under Niamatpur upazila in Naogaon on Monday night.

The police suspected that the four might have been killed following a previous family dispute over land-related issues.

The deceased are Habibur Rahman, 35, his wife Popy Sultana, 30, and their children – Parvez Rahman, 9, and Sadia Khatun, 3.

Habibur’s father, Nomir Uddin, said that everyone had gone to sleep at night and nothing unusual was noticed until a neighbour found the main gate open on Tuesday morning.

‘A neighbour entered the house and saw my daughter-in-law’s body lying in the yard. Hearing the screams, I woke up and found her there and the others inside the room,’ he said.

Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of the Niamatpur police station, said that on information, he rushed to Bahadur village and found the bodies lying on the yard  and inside the house.

‘It appears that Habibur, a cow trader, and the two children were attacked inside the room and killed after being struck and having their throats slit. His wife might have tried to flee but was attacked in the yard and killed in the similar manner,’ he said.

He said that the bodies had been sent to the Naogaon General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Mohammad Tarequl Islam, superintendent of police in Naogaon, told New Age that initial findings suggested the killings might be linked to a previous family dispute over land.

‘We have detained several people for questioning and are trying to determine the motive and identify those responsible,’ he said.

Meanwhile, deceased Poly’s mother Sabina Begum alleged that her daughter had long been subjected to abuse by her in-laws and that tensions over property division had intensified in recent times.

She claimed that disputes over land among family members might have led to the killings.