A journalist, his wife and two children were found allegedly murdered in their house on Saturday evening here. Chandrika Rai (42), wife Durga Rai (40), son Jalaj (19) and daughter Nisha (14) were found lying in pool of blood in different rooms of the family's house.

 According to police, the house was locked from outside the whole day on Saturday.
On suspecting something wrong, Rai’s brother went to the house and broke the lock to find the family in that condition.

Rai worked as a freelancer for dailies Navbharat and Hitavada, while his wife was a member of local Janpad.

The motive behind the crime is not known, but police suspect that it was committed on the night of Friday, and the culprits were known to the family.

The victims appeared to have been hit on the head by a heavy iron object. Police have sent the bodies for post-mortem. The crime has shocked the local people, and traders gave a call for bandh on Sunday. Police said they are investigating the case.