Photo used for illustrative purpose.

A Pakistani man killed his four minor children by pushing them into canal in the Kahna area of Punjab province and later staged an abduction drama, local media reported on Wednesday. During initial investigation by police, the suspect confessed to his gruesome crime and now is in police custody.

According to police, the youngest daughter of the suspect had been born a few days ago and he had been quarreling with his wife over the birth of a girl again. His wife had gone to her parents’ home along with her eldest and youngest daughters.

The suspect Muhammad Azeem, a resident of Panju Village, on Sunday evening, approached police with a complaint that his four children identified as Ghulam Sabir, 12, Somiya Azeem, 9, Nabiha Azeem, 5 and Ayesha Azeem, 2 who left home to a nearby shop had gone missing.

‘They searched for the children on their own in the neighbourhood but could not find any trace of them.

He feared the victims might have been abducted by the unidentified suspects, he told Kahna police. Police during investigations noticed few contradictory statements made by the complainant and included him into the inquiry.

When grilled, he confessed to his crime. Lahore Operations DIG Ali Nasir Rizvi escorted by Model Town Operations SP Ammara Sherazi and DIG Investigations Imran Kishwar told media that it was a cold-blooded intentional murder committed by the suspect just to cover up his involvement in few morally degraded acts.

His wife was also aware of his immoral acts. "This is initial investigation based on his credible confession that they tallied with other information, events independently,” Rizvi said.

He continued that the suspect had no medical history. He is not a mentally deranged person. He committed the offence while in sound mind and senses, he added.

He added that since the incident of going missing of four minor siblings at a time was a serious issue, senior police officers moved for the investigations on immediate grounds.

They checked in the neighbourhood and other areas where the incident was reported and also used the cellular technology to probe the matter. DIG added that during the course of investigations when they grilled Muhammad Azeem, he confessed to his crime. He had total six children, four daughters and two sons.

Citing the confessional statement, the investigators said on Sunday evening, he had taken his children on a motorbike to Lulliyani Canal in the Mustafabad area of District Kasur. He asked his children to pose for a selfie, but suddenly, he pushed them into the canal.

Rizvi said that the divers, police and Rescue teams were engaged in searching for the bodies of the victims. They had also been searching for them in the adjacent river torrents of the canal in Raja Jhang and Pattoki.

Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister has expressed deep grief over the incident and directed to take strict legal action against the accused father.

‘I have been deeply saddened over the horrific incident and the perpetrator will not escape from the detrimental punishment,’ he added.