Kolkata, Dec 2 (IANS): In a shocking incident, four members of a family were hacked to death allegedly by one of their relatives at Nandabaazar area in Singur in Hooghly district of West Bengal on Thursday morning.

According to the local people, four members of the Patel family - Dinesh Patel, 50, his wife Anusua, 45, his father Mavji, 80, and his son Vabik, 23 were found lying in a pool of blood in front of their house. The local people with the help of police sent the four to the local hospital where Dinesh and wife were declared dead. Mavji and Vabik were sent to SSKM in a very critical condition where they died in the afternoon.

Though police are yet to arrest anyone, they are looking for their relative Jogesh Dhawani who allegedly came to their house in the morning. After the incident, Dhawani is missing. Police have collected the CCTV footage and are looking for Dhawani.

According to the local people, the Patels who have a wood cutting unit in Singur, had a long standing feud with their relative Jogesh Dhawani. "On Thursday morning, Dhawani came to their home and we heard people shouting. When we rushed to their home, we found the four family members lying in a pool of blood. We also couldn't find Dhawani. We informed everything to the police. They are looking for him," a local resident and neighbour of the Patels said.

"Apparently it seems that the murder is committed be someone who was close to the family for money and property. It seems that the murder is a result of a quarrel arising out of property related dispute and it was done in a fit of rage. We have identified the culprit and we are looking for him," a senior police officer said.