An elderly couple, both retired professors, who lived alone were stabbed and slashed to death at their home in Ara town of Bhojpur district on Monday, with Bihar police still unsure of the motive.

Mahendra Singh, 72, and Pushpa Singh, 66, were found dead around 10.30pm on Monday after their Lucknow-based daughter rang up relatives when her calls to her parents went unanswered.

Sources said the couple were active BJP members — with Mahendra having contested the Assembly elections from neighbouring Karakat in 1985 — and close to defence minister Rajnath Singh.

“The maid and the cook have been detained for questioning. We are going through CCTV footage from the area,” the Nawada station house officer, inspector Avinash Kumar, told The Telegraph.

He said nothing valuable seemed to have been taken, making robbery an unlikely motive. Officers said both bodies showed multiple stab wounds and slashes.

Blood was splattered on the walls and floors. The murder weapon has not been found.

A forensic team from Patna and sniffer dogs have been brought in. Police sources said neighbours had described the couple as affable, and their relatives said they had no quarrel with anybody.

Mahendra retired from the Veer Kunwar Singh University about seven years ago, and Pushpa from the Women’s College in Ara recently.

Their three daughters, all married, lived in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Officers said the Lucknow-based daughter had rung up her uncles at Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district, who arrived at the house and found the bodies.