Former village sarpanch Ram Singh Choudhary, his second wife, and two other family members were reportedly murdered before their bodies were set ablaze inside an SUV near Rajasthan's Ajmer district, police said.
Choudhary's first wife, son, and daughter have been detained in connection with the killings, with investigators pointing to a long-running domestic dispute inside the family.
The incident came to light in Shri Rampura village, about 60 km from Ajmer city, after a Mahindra Scorpio was found engulfed in flames on a highway nearly 500 metres from where the family lived.
Police said three charred bodies were recovered from inside the vehicle, while a fourth body was found lying in a nearby field.
The deceased were identified as former sarpanch Ram Singh Choudhary (45), his mother and former sarpanch Pusi Devi (85), his second wife Surgyan Devi (40), and niece Mahima.
Police suspect the four victims were killed inside the house using a sharp-edged farming weapon, with their throats allegedly slit during the attack.
According to investigators, the accused later siphoned diesel from a tractor, loaded the bodies into the Scorpio SUV and drove the vehicle nearly 500 metres away from the house before setting it ablaze in an attempt to destroy evidence.
