A father is believed to have killed his wife and two teenage daughters, before killing himself. Police launched a murder investigation after the family of four was found dead at their home in a Yorkshire village. Early indications suggested that the bodies may have been in the house for some time. This incident has left the Asian community in the locality shocked and upset.
Detectives were called to the property in Clayton, Bradford, at 8.30pm on Monday, after a neighbour raised alarm who had not seen them for some time. The West Yorkshire police found the bodies of Jitendra Lad, 49, his wife Daksha, 44, and daughters Trisha, 19 and Nisha, 17.
Neighbours described them as a "lovely, close-knit family" and said Trisha studied at Leeds University whilst Nisha attended the local grammar school.
Both Mr and Mrs Lad worked for Bradford Council, where Mr Lad was a control and payment specialist. He is thought to be the Chairman of the Friends of Thornton Grammar school, where his daughters Nisha and Trisha studied.
Jitendra was a watersports fanatic and changed his Facebook profile picture to one in a scuba diving gear while stating that he had 'finally qualified as an ocean diver' in April.
Sources revealed that Jitendra's was born to Maganbhai Naranbhai Lad and Ratanben, originally from a small village called Gandeva in Navsari, South Gujarat. Daksha's parents were Jagjeevanbhai Jeevanbhai Lal and mother Savita, who were originally from a village Tundi, Surat.
According to her facebook page, Daksha attended Sutton High School at St Helens and went to Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College.
The family bought the detached house on Blackberry Way, a quiet cul-de-sac, in 2006, but had lived in the "peaceful" village for at least 20 years.
On Tuesday, as we went to press, the property was sealed off with police tape on Tuesday. A white Volkswagen Golf was parked on the driveway and floral tributes had begun to pile up outside.
Post mortems will now be carried out to establish the cause of the deaths.
Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson, from West Yorkshire Police’s Protective Services (Crime), said: “This is clearly a significant incident and our investigation will be thorough as we piece together the events that have led to the deaths of a local family.
“The investigation is at an early stage, and while I do not want to speculate around the circumstances leading to the deaths, I am happy to confirm that we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.”
Damien Miller, Superintendent Operations of Bradford District, who leads neighbourhood policing across the Bradford District, said: “Clayton is a close knit community and I understand that local people will be understandably upset by what has taken place and I would like to reassure people there is no wider danger to members of the public.
“Additional neighbourhood officers are in the area speaking to people and offering reassurance.”
Cllr David Green, leader of Bradford Council, extended sympathy to the community, relatives and friends of the Lad family.
He added: “The husband and wife of the family, Jitendra Lad and Duksha Lad, both worked for Bradford Council and councillors and employees are very upset after hearing the dreadful news of their deaths.
“Obviously, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage as the investigation into how it happened is continuing, but we would urge anyone who may have any information about this tragedy to contact the police immediately.”
