Police recovered the bodies of a woman and her two young grandchildren from a house in the city’s Labanchora area on Sunday night, in what investigators are treating as a mysterious triple murder.

The deceased were identified as Mahidunnesa, and her two grandchildren — Mustakim, 8, and Fatiha, 6. Police recovered the children’s bodies and sent them to Khulna Medical College Hospital, while the grandmother’s body remained at the house on Mukta Commissioner Kalvat Dorbesh Goli under Labanchora Police Station.

Sub-Inspector Pishuj of Labanchora Police Station said the children’s parents both work full-time — the mother as a peskar at the Bagerhat District Registry Office and the father as a billing employee at the Khulna Chamber of Commerce. On Sunday morning, they left the two children in the care of their grandmother before leaving for work.

When the parents returned home in the evening and knocked on the door, there was no response. With help from neighbours, they broke open the door and found Mahidunnesa lying dead inside the room. They immediately informed the police.

Police later discovered the bodies of the two children in a nearby chicken shed adjacent to the house. Both had multiple injury marks on their bodies.

The SI said the killings are believed to have taken place around midday. “We cannot yet confirm who carried out the murders or the motive behind them,” he added.

Police say the incident appears “highly suspicious,” and an investigation is underway.