Lucknow, Feb 9 (IANS): It is a palatial house, fitted with all modern amenities and located in a posh residential colony. Yet the family members in the house are petrified and living under the shadow of fear.

The reason behind this is that since the past 12 days, strange sounds are emanating from one particular wall of the house.

The sounds come from a wall in Aarti's mother's room.

"I have been living here with my husband, daughter and mother since the past 27 years. For the past two weeks, these noises have started in the house," said Aarti, the homemaker in the house.

Initially, they thought that the noises were coming from a neighbour's house where construction work was underway.

"But the noises then started coming even when there was no work in the neighbour's house. My husband and I go out to work and my daughter and mother stay at home. The volume of the sounds has been increasing with every passing day," she told reporters.

She denied that the house was haunted. "We have been living here for so long. How can a house suddenly become haunted?"

Aarti further said that a few days ago, when she returned from work on her scooty, she heard a loud sound of a machine gun. "So scary it was that I fell down in shock," she said.

The family lodged a complaint with the police and Joint Commissioner of Police (JPC) Nilabja Chaudhary said that a woman constable had been posted in the house but she had not heard any sound.

"We are investigating the matter from all angles," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, a local resident said that a woman had died an unnatural death in a nearby house.

"Since then, such rumours have been floating around, "the resident said.

Aarti, however, said, "We are educated people and do not believe in all this. We have been hearing sounds and are petrified because of this."