A woman has been arrested for reportedly killing her three children, a daughter and two sons, in Bhawanigarh, Sangrur, after their deaths were initially attributed to food poisoning.

Addressing a press conference in Sangrur on Tuesday, senior superintendent of police Ravjot Kaur Grewal stated that the recent deaths of three minor siblings (aged 6, 5 and 3 years) during treatment were reportedly caused by consuming poisonous sweets.

She said that action was taken under Section 194 of the BNSS (174 CrPC) based on the father’s statement, as the case initially involved food poisoning.

It was later found during a police investigation into the death of the children that their mother had an extramarital relationship with a resident of Jalalabad. With his help, she conspired to remove her three children from her way and reportedly murdered them by mixing poisonous substances in the sweets.

The police registered a first information report under Sections 103, 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Bhawanigarh Police Station against the woman and her aide. Police said while the woman has been arrested, her aide is absconding, and efforts are underway to arrest him.