A jilted lover allegedly stabbed a man and his two minor daughters to death in Saran district of Bihar during the early hours of Wednesday.

The man’s wife was seriously injured in the attack and was admitted to a hospital.

Police have arrested two youths including the prime accused in connection with the murders. A large number of police personnel have been deployed at the place of occurrence to control the situation and stop any caste-based conflict in the area.

The incident occurred around 2am at Dhanadih village under Rasulpur police station in Saran. The village is famous for being the native place of popular Bhojpuri singer and actor Khesari Lal Yadav.

The victim family — Tarkeshwar Singh aka Jhabar Singh, his wife Shobha Devi, and daughters Chandni Kumari, 17, and Abha Kumari, 15 — were sleeping on the terrace of their house to beat the heat.

Two youths climbed to the roof and attacked the sleeping people with knives, stabbing them repeatedly. While Tarkeshwar, Chandni and Abha died on the spot, Shobha managed to escape despite the injuries and raised an alarm.

Shobha was admitted to the district hospital in Chhapra town. She later told reporters that one Sudhanshu Kumar alias Roshan of Rasulpur had befriended her daughter Chandni.

However, Tarkeshwar forbade Chandni to talk to Roshan after which she had stopped meeting or talking to the youth. This made Roshan angry and he had been threatening the family.

“Roshan had been threatening our daughter that he would wipe out the entire family if she did not talk to him. He and another youth climbed onto our terrace and attacked us around 2am. I ran away screaming. The villagers assembled and informed the police,” Shobha said.

A police team rushed to the place of occurrence, sent the bodies for post-mortem and started investigating the murders. “We have arrested two youths — Sudhanshu alias Roshan, son of Santosh Ram, and Ankit Kumar, son of Sunil Ram, on the basis of Shobha Devi’s statement and human intelligence. Both of them have confessed to the crime. We have recovered a knife used in the murders and also their bloodstained clothes. The duo had also suffered cuts on their hands,” Saran superintendent of police Kumar Ashish said.

“Prima facie the reason behind the killings seems to be a love affair between Roshan and one of the deceased girls. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, while police personnel and a magistrate have been deployed in the village. The situation is under control,” Ashish added.