Surat, Feb 10 (IANS) Three members of a family were found dead at their home in Surat’s Lalgate area on Tuesday morning, police said.

The cause of death will be determined after post-mortem examinations and forensic reports are received.

The incident took place at a residence in Sauya Sheri of the Haripura area. The deceased were identified as Faiz Ahmed Yusuf (36), his wife Mubina Ahmed (32), and their son Noman Ahmed (13).

The couple’s daughter was not at home at the time, as she had stayed at her grandmother’s house the previous night.

According to police, the family had returned home late on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, when there was no response from inside the house, a relative who had arrived to take the child to school broke open the door.

All three were found lying unconscious in separate rooms and were later declared dead.

DCP Raghav Jain said foam was noticed around the mouths of all three deceased. “There were no visible external injury marks on the bodies. The house was locked from the inside, which at present does not indicate any external intrusion,” he said.

Police said food poisoning has been ruled out at this stage, as the usual physical signs were not present. “All possible angles are being examined. Blood samples and other material evidence have been collected and sent for forensic analysis. The exact cause of death will be confirmed only after the post-mortem and viscera reports are received,” the DCP said.

Family members told police there were no known disputes within the household. A relative, Farooq Saiyed, said the family had returned four days ago after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia.

“They had recently returned from the pilgrimage. There were no known issues between Faiz and his wife. We are unable to understand how this happened,” he said.

Relatives also informed police that Faiz and his brothers were involved in the chemical business in Surat’s Pandesara area and that the family was financially stable.

Police confirmed that no suicide note or container of poisonous substance has been recovered from the house so far.

The bodies have been sent to Surat Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Police have registered an accidental death case and said further investigation is underway to establish the sequence of events and circumstances leading to the deaths.

–IANS

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