Bhatkal: The early evening hours on Friday turned horrific and shocking in the taluk after four members a family were brutally murdered using sharp weapons by their close relative over a property dispute here at Hadvalli village, around 25 km from the town. The incident happened at around 4:30pm.

The deceased have been identified as Shambhu Venkataraman Bhat (65), his wife Madevi Bhat (58), their son Raghavendra alias Raju Bhat (40) and Raghavendra's wife Kusuma Raghavenda Bhat (32).

On examining the location, it was found that the houses in this area surrounded by forests are at a considerable distance from each other.

Shambhu Bhat's dead body was found about 50 meters from his house, his son's body was found at a distance of about 25 steps behind him. His mother's body was lying on one side and his wife's body on the other side. The bodies of all four were found lying outside their house in a blood-soaked condition.

The close relatives of deceased people present at the spot said that Shridhar Bhat, the eldest son of the deceased Shambhu Bhat, had died about eight years ago due to kidney failure. Shridhar Bhat's wife Vidya Bhat had a problem with her father-in-law Shambhu Bhat regarding the share in the property. It has been alleged that Vidya Bhat's brother Vinay Bhat committed the murder. Vidya Bhat and her father Shridhar Bhat are also among the accused in this murder. (Vidya Bhat's husband and father are both named Shridhar Bhat). The main accused, Vinay Bhat, is absconding.

At the time of the murder, deceased Raju Bhat's six-year-old elder son had been to school, while his three-year-old daughter was asleep inside the house. Both are safe.

As soon as the incident was reported, SP Vishnuvardhan from Karwar reached Bhatkal, and after inspecting the incident, ordered the bodies to be shifted to Bhatkal Government Hospital for post-mortem. Bhatkal DySP Shrikanth, Rural Circle Police Inspector Chandan Gopal, Bhatkal Assistant Commissioner Mamata Devi, Tahsildar Ashok Bhat, and many other police officials had reached the spot.

Taking stock of the situation, Uttara Kannada Additional SP CT Jayakumar, who also visited the spot, told reporters that three teams have been formed to arrest the accused and all three will be arrested soon. He said that a case has been registered in this connection in the Bhatkal rural police station.