MEERUT: Angry at not being invited to an

, three youths, in their late twenties, allegedly shot three children of a family dead in Bulandshahr. Bullet-ridden bodies of the children were found floating in the reservoir of a tubewell on Saturday, sending shockwaves in the region. Several used cartridges were found near the crime scene.

The three children have been identified as Abdul (8), Aasma (7) and Aleeba (8). The victims had gone missing on Friday night. Their bodies were found in Dhatoori village under Salempur police station, around 15 km from the spot where they were last seen in Faislabad locality of Bulandshahr. Avdhesh Awasthi, SHO Salempur police station told TOI, The bullet wounds on the bodies show that they were shot more than once. Bloodstains have been found at various spots near the crime scene.”

SSP (Bulandshahr) N Kolanchi has constituted four teams to crack the case and arrest the culprits. He has also suspended two policemen, including station house officer (SHO) of Bulandshahr Kotwali, for negligence.

Suspended SHO Dubey, who is yet to be relieved of his charge, said, “An FIR under IPC section 302 (murder) has been filed against Malik and two friends Bilal and Imran. Bilal has been arrested and efforts are on to arrest the remaining two.”

Kolanchi said, “Primary investigation has revealed that Malik was miffed at not being invited to an

party hosted by the family. The children went missing at 9:30 pm on Friday. No action was taken by the local thana. So, I have suspended station SHO Dhruv Bhushan Dubey and constable Ashok Kumar with immediate effect.”Hafiz Alam, father of Aleeba, had organised the iftar gathering where Malik was not invited. “Malik is a distant relative but he had nurtured enmity with our family due to property issues. We never thought he will go to this extent.” The other two relatives who lost their children are Hakim, father of Abdul, and Jamshed, father of Aasma.