The 30-year-old transporter, Raju Sakharam Patole, bashed the heads of his wife Seetabai, daughters Aarti (8), Kirti (4), Prachi (2) and son Ashwin (6) with a grinding stone while they were fast asleep.

Later, he tried to end his life by swallowing 15 to 20 tablets of Vicks Action 500, and by stabbing himself with a pair of scissors. The Patoles were shifted to Sassoon Hospital immediately after the incident by their relatives residing in the neighbourhood. Ashwin, Prachi and Kirti were proclaimed "brought dead" at the hospital. Critically wounded Seetabai and Aarti succumbed to their injuries shortly after reaching the hospital.

Patole has confessed to the crime, inspector in-charge of Khadak police station Vishwasrao Patil told The Indian Express.Patole, who is still undergoing treatment at the hospital, told the police this morningthat he took the drastic decision "because he was infected with HIV."

"I was detected as HIV positive during a blood test carried out at Sassoon Hospital in 1995. The tests were done since I was suffering from fever for a long time. I have recruited a driver to operate my tempo and have been taking complete rest for a year. I took the decision as my illness has aggravated despite the continuous treatment," Patole was heard telling the police officials at the hospital this morning.

Medical records to prove Patole's claim that he was HIV positive were not available till late in the night. The police have requested the hospital authorities to find out the records of the previous treatment given to him.

The Patoles had dinner with their relatives last night. However, the relatives said, Patole did not give them any inkling of what was on his mind.

Patole's brother-in-law, Balu Sopan Chandane, said Raju and his family were at his house since 7 p.m. on Sunday. "We went off to sleep around 9 p.m. Around 11p.m., we heard a commotion from Patole's house and went there to find that the doors were locked from inside."

"A short while later, Raju opened the door. His clothes were soaked in blood and the grinding stone lay near his feet. Seetabai and her children lay in a pool of blood inside the house. Everything was bloody. Even the walls of the house were blood-stained," he recalled.

Patole consumed the pills while we were trying to find out what had transpired. Later, the Patoles were shifted to the hospital in some autorickshaws and a tempo, he added.

Assistant police inspector Digambar Ghule, who was standing outside the nearby Kasewadi police chowki, noticed something amiss and reached the spot within five minutes.

The entire area witnessed frenetic movements as several senior officials including deputy commissioner (Zone I) Chandrakant Ughade, assistant commissioner Makarand Ranade, inspector Vishwasrao Patil and Crime Branch officials rushed there.

Shortly after midnight, Balu Chandane lodged anFIR accusing Patole of murdering Seetabai, Aarti, Kirti, Ashwin and Prachi. A pall of gloom descended over Kasewadi slums after the incident. Hoardings were put up to pay condolences to the five members of Patole family on Monday morning.

The bodies were handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem. They were cremated at Kailash crematorium later in the afternoon.

Seetabai, who hails from Ahmednagar, got married in 1989. Raju who worked as a cleaner then, purchased his own tempo and started working as a transporter.