According to the police, the accused has been identified as Sajid, who had a barber shop opposite the house of the victim in Baba Colony and was an acquaintance of the children’s father, Vinod.

The man on Tuesday evening (Mar 19), entered their house and asked for tea from the family members, said the police.

Once the elders left the room, the man climbed to the terrace where three children of Vinod – Aayush (13), Ahaan (7) and Piyush (6) – were present.

While Aayush and Ahaan lost their lives in the incident, Piyush suffered minor injuries.

Vinod Kumar’s wife, who runs a salon, was alone at home with her three children when Sajid entered the house with his another friend Javed. But Police did not say anything about the whereabouts of Javed so far.

According to their neighbours, the accused came to Vinod’s house and started attacking his sons Ayush, Piyush, and Honey.

The children’s mother was downstairs in the salon. Upon hearing screams, people rushed upstairs, but the accused had fled.

The police rushed to the scene, but the agitated locals did not allow them to take the bodies. Relatives sent back the ambulance that came to take the bodies.

Later, heavy police security was deployed in the area and the bodies of the children were sent for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, Bareilly Inspector General Rakesh Kumar said the accused tried to escape and fired at the police, but was killed in retaliatory fire.

“Today evening an unfortunate incident took place. The police reached the spot and the accused tried to escape. The accused fired at the police and was killed in retaliatory fire. The accused died on the spot. The accused is aged between 25-30,” Rakesh Kumar said.

The reason for the murder is not known yet. Further investigation is underway from different angles.

The police deployed heavy police security at the Baba Colony which is located near the Mandi Samiti outpost as angry people took to the streets and protested against the ghastly murders.

Police have appealed to the locals to maintain peace.

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__Inputs from India Today, News9 and Wion News.