32-year-old Varekar was found with a knife in his hand.
“The attacker, Hasnin Anwar Warekar, hung himself after slitting the throats of all other family members, including his parents,” police spokesman Gajanan Laxman Kabdule told reporters.
The sole survivor of the attack – Warekar’s sister – was taken to hospital when neighbours heard her screaming for help after midnight and alerted police.
“We still haven’t been able to speak with the attacker’s 21-year-old sister, the lone survivor of the attack, who is in deep trauma at a city hospital,” Kabdule said.
Warekar, 35, attacked his family after apparently lacing their food with a sedative, according to local media reports.
It was learnt that the assailant stabbed his victims after they went to bed.
“Prima facie evidence suggests that the accused bolted all the doors of the house and murdered his family while they were asleep with a knife that we found near his body,” Ashutosh Dumbre, joint commissioner of Thane police, was quoted as saying.
