A priest and five others were found dead today under mysterious circumstances in a house at Kotla Meharsinghwala village in the district here, police said.
The incident took place last night and came to light this morning. The deceased include two girls, Moga SSP, Jatinder Singh Khaira said.
He said that while five were found killed with sharp edged weapons, Pal Singh, a priest at a Gurdwara, was found dead due to poisoning.
Rajpal Kaur (22), Sandeep Kaur (15), Soni Singh (20), Akashdeep Singh (14) and Dharminder Singh (22) were found dead bearing sharp edged weapon injuries round their necks.
The SSP said that froth was coming out of the mouths of the five as well as that of Pal Singh, though the priest's body bore no injury marks.
He said the victims belonged to different families.
According to Khaira, the incident took place when the priest was said to have been performing some religious rituals in the presence of other victims.
"During the preliminary investigations, the priest is a suspect in the entire case. No injury marks have been found on his body, though others bear injuries on their necks. At the moment, we are not ruling out the possibility of priest's role in the crime. Moreover, his body was found outside the house whereas other victims were found inside," the SSP said.
A case has been registered into the matter and investigation is underway, he said.
