A four-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl were found dead and their mother was stabbed on Tuesday at Jaganathapuram Chatram near Ponneri in Sholavaram police station limits.
The police said Dhuvarka Bhar, 25, hailing from Assam, was employed in a private firm near here and was staying with his wife Sumitha, 21, four-year-old son and one-year-old daughter at a rented house in the village. Guttlu Kumar, 25, of Bihar, who was Mr. Bhar’s colleague, used to visit the family regularly and made advances towards Ms. Sumitha. She had spurned his advances and Mr. Bhar too had warned Kumar against this.
On returning from work on Tuesday night, Mr. Bhar found his house locked and his wife did not respond to calls. When Mr. Bhar looked through the window of his house, he was shocked to see the children gagged and unconscious while his wife was lying in a pool of blood.
Mr. Bhar called Kumar, who had not turned up for work that day. His house was also locked.
The Sholavaram police broke open the door and rushed the woman, who was stabbed, and the two children to the Government Stanley Hospital.
A senior police officer said a special team has been formed to trace Guttlu Kumar, who is suspected to be involved in the murder.
