Bhagalpur, Feb. 7: Two days after the murder of four members of a family at Marufchak, Bhagalpur, police are yet to ascertain the reason behind the killings.

Mozahidpur police, under whose jurisdiction the locality falls, came to know about the killings yesterday. Police suspected involvement of acquaintances in the killing of Indrakant Mishra (55), his wife Bina Devi (50), his son Amarkant Mishra (30) and daughter-in-law Puja Devi (26) on the night of Feburary 5.

Not a single person residing in the neighbourhood of the Mishras heard any sound on the night the incident occurred. Police said all the items inside the house were intact and a mobile phone was recovered from the spot.

A source said Indrakant, a priest, and his son, gutkha seller on the Bhagalpur station premises, had no relation with the people in the locality. This was another reason why people remained ignorant about their murders till Monday afternoon, the police said.

The police added that yesterday at around 3.30pm, a person visited Indrakant’s house to invite him to conduct a religious ritual. When no one answered the door, he became suspicious and alarmed the neighbours. A few people called the police who found the bodies inside the house.

Indrakant had purchased the house from one Rajesh Sah seven years ago, sources said. Indrakant hailed from Darbhanga but settled in Bhagalpur in the ’70s.

Sajoy Singh, the Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police, was not available for comment but a senior officer on condition of anonymity said the police suspected the role of two daughters of Indrakant — Kumkum and Priyanka — behind the murder. “They could be involved in the crime to grab the property worth more than Rs 10 lakh. We have clues and have started investigation,” the cop said.

“Priyanka, who had a love marriage five years ago, went against the family to settle with the man of her choice,” said ward number 41 councillor Rajiv Ranjan Kumar.

According to him, in 2009 tension ran high between Indrakant and one Ashok Choudhary of Bhutkundi in Banka, who is the father of Indrakant’s daughter-in-law, Puja. The reason behind the tension was Priyanka and her husband, who used to stay with the family at Marufchak. The dispute came up in the local panchayat where it was alleged that Priyanka’s husband “disturbed” Puja.

The panchayat, however, settled the matter but Priyanka and her husband had to leave the house. Prior to the incident, Indrakant’s elder daughter Kumkum got married. However, a resident claimed that the people of the locality did not witness any weddings in the Mishras’ house ever. He added that the family had a simple life but always maintained a safe distance from the residents.

Priyanka and Kumkum arrived here today but did not speak to reporters. According to sources, the two sisters blamed Ashok Choudhary for the murders. “We have taken the statements of the two daughters of the deceased, along with the others,” said an officer at Mozahidpur police station.

According to sources, the police are on a lookout for the five-six people who were seen near Indrakant’s house. The police are also trying to ascertain whether Puja was sexually assaulted before the murder or not. Her naked body was found in a pool of blood near the bathroom of the house. The police are also trying to locate a few promoters, who were reportedly pressurising Indrakant to hand over his property to them.

A team of doctors at JLNMC conducted the autopsies of the four bodies today. “After the reports come we would get vital clues. We have also called the forensic experts from Patna for further investigation into the case,” said Binod Prasad Gupta, the station house officer of Mozahidpur.