Belgaum, Aug 17 : A woman and her two children were found murdered in their Kuvempu Nagar residence on Sunday morning.

Senior police officials told The Hindu that they hope to solve the case through the few clues that had been recovered and the circumstantial evidences.

The police have identified the victims as Reena Rakesh Malagatti (35), Aditya (12-13) and Sahitya (4-5). Reena’s husband, Rakesh Malagatti, was away in Goa to visit his relatives for the past two days.

According to the police, Reena was found in a pool of blood in her master bedroom on the first floor of the house, while Aditya was found with his head in a bucket of water and Sahitya was found at his side in the bathroom. The incident came to light at about 10 a.m., when Harsh a relative of Rakesh, who was in an adjacent room, found his door locked from outside.

After getting no response, he broke open the door and saw what happened.

He immediately informed Rakesh who called up Hemanth Dalal, Reena’s elder brother, who rushed to the spot and informed the police.

Police Commissioner S. Ravi Kumar said that prima facie the murder seemed to be for personal reasons.

Initial investigation revealed that Reena’s throat had been slit and the two children had been killed by strangulation, however the police could not say if there were more than one involved in the act.

The murderer is suspected to have entered the house from the terrace.

Rakesh reached home at around 2.45 p.m., just after the police shifted the bodies to the district government hospital for post-mortem.

Along with Mr. Ravi, Deputy Commissioner of Police Anupam Agarwal visited the scene along with forensic experts and a sniffer dog squad.