A man hacked his mother, sister-in-law and two-year-old nephew to death following a family dispute at Kandowali village in Ajnala sub division of Amritsar district early on Thursday.

Police said Amritpal Singh, 37, killed his mother Manbir Kaur, 58, at 1am following which he murdered his nephew, Samrath Singh, 2, and sister-in-law Avneet Kaur, 27. “After committing the crime, he took a bath, paid obeisance at the village gurdwara and surrendered at the police station at 6.30am,” Ajnala deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Raj Kumar said.

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Asked about the motive, the DSP said: “According to preliminary investigation, Amritpal had been upset with his mother since his wife along with their two daughters left for her parental home a year ago due to a family dispute. He blamed his mother for his disturbed marital life. He said his mother loved his nephew more than his daughters. This discrimination made him murder the three.”

The bodies were sent for autopsy. A case was registered under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.