A woman and her three daughters were hacked to death in an attack by a young man in Raipur municipality of Lakshmipur district on Thursday.

The deceased were identified as Shahinur Begum, 38, and her daughters Saima Akter, 21, a student of Dhaka University, Iqra Akter 17, a college student, and Shifa Akter, 9.

Hailing from Cumilla district, Shahinur had been living in a rented house on the Godown Road under ward No. 3 of the municipality for several years after the demise of her husband Md Kamal.

Lakshmipur Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Abu Tareq said Antor Majumdar, 35, son of Katrik Majumdar of Noakhali district, stormed the house around 11:00am and hacked Shahinur and her three daughters indiscriminately.

The incident left Shahinur, Saima and Shifa dead on the spot and Iqra injured.

The injured was first taken to Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital where doctors referred her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. However, she succumbed to her injuries on the way to Dhaka.

Meanwhile, hearing screams of the victims, locals rushed in and managed to catch Antor. They later gave him a good beating, leaving him injured.

On information, police rushed to the spot and rescued him.

At that time, agitated locals hurled brick chips at the policemen, leaving 6-7 of them injured.

After the rescue, Antor was taken to the Sadar Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later.

The bodies were sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy, the SP said.

Locals said Antor had lived as a tenant in the same building a few months ago and worked as a fruit vendor.

The motive behind the attack could not be confirmed yet, said police.

"The exact reason behind the incident is still unknown. We are investigating the matter and will be able to provide details after the investigation," Tareq said.