Three members of a family were discovered hacked to death by unidentified persons when they were asleep on Tuesday past midnight in Nadia’s Palashipara.

Police said Daman Rajwar, 55, his wife Sumitra, 51, and daughter Mala, 26, were found lying in a pool of blood by a neighbour. Mala’s three children, including a son, were however unharmed.

Palashipara police have started a suo motu murder case but no clear motive has come to light yet. Police have detained at least four persons for interrogation, including a neighbour who had a fight with the family.

A CID team visited the spot with a sniffer dog.

The police said the couple used to stay in Raninagar village along with their married daughter Mala and her children. Mala had moved away from her husband, a construction worker in Gujarat.

Additional SP (rural) of Krishnagar police district Krishanu Roy said several angles had surfaced but it was too early to comment now.

An officer of Palashipara police station said cops were scanning the role of the neighbour who threatened the family as the sniffer dog also stopped inside his house. “We are examining a possible extramarital affair between Mala daughter and a local resident. We asked neighbours about it and have summoned Mala’s husband,” the officer said.

Police and local sources said that around 12.10am on Tuesday, Nagar Mandal, a neighbour of the victims, became curious after hearing some mysterious sounds emanating from the adjacent house. When he peeped through the main door of the home of the Rajwars, he was shocked to see Mala lying in a pool of blood

“It was a horrible scene. I was shocked to see Mala lying in a pool of blood...she was bleeding profusely from her throat and gasping,” Mondal said.

Mondal alerted other neighbours and called the Palashipara police, who rushed in and took the trio to Tehatta sub-divisional hospital, where the doctors declared them dead.