Detectives have launched a murder inquiry after a mother and her three children were killed in a house fire on Friday morning in Leicester.

A woman in her 40s, named locally as Shehnila Taufiq, died along with her 19-year-old daughter and sons aged 17 and 15 after a fire broke out at their terraced home in the Spinney Hills area of Leicester.

Police said they cannot rule out a link with the murder of a man in his 20s in nearby Kent Street several hours earlier.

Assistant Chief Constable Roger Bannister said Leicestershire Police have launched a murder inquiry over the blaze and are examining the possibility of it being a revenge attack.

Emergency crews were called to reports of a man being assaulted in Kent Street at 5.30pm on Thursday.

Police have not released details of his injuries but he was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where he died.

At 12.30am on Friday firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze at the Wood Hill property which is half a mile away from the assault scene, which detectives said was busy when the man was injured.

Urging witnesses to get in touch, Mr Bannister said it was possible both offences, which he described as “terrible, terrible crimes”, were linked.

He said officers were exploring different lines of inquiry but one included the fire potentially being a revenge attack.

Mr Bannister said he was particularly keen to speak to witnesses who were in both locations. He said the crimes might be linked because of the close locations and lack of time between them.

He added: “I can’t confirm here and now it is a revenge attack – it may be, it may not be – but lines of inquiry will certainly get to the bottom of that.”

Referring to neighbours talking about a “fire bombing”, Mr Bannister said: “Fire bombing in my experience means different things to different people.

“We are working really closely with the fire brigade. Exactly how the fire started, where it started and of course who is responsible is something we will get to the bottom of.”

The four victims, who included Mrs Taufiq and her children named locally as Zainab, Bilal and Jamal, were found dead in upstairs bedrooms.

Neighbours spoke of flames shooting out of the house which was gutted in the blaze.

The officer said neither the family nor the man who was killed were known to police.

The force has drafted in extra officers and forensics staff to probe both crimes and increased patrols in the area.

Police are working to trace a man who also lived in the property.

Among friends and neighbours who paid tribute at the scene was teacher Mohammed Qasim Manjra.

Mr Manjra, who taught Jamal history at a nearby independent Islamic school, said: “He was a very sociable kid and we are very sad that he has gone.”

Leicester-based Imam Ibrahim Mogra, the assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, also visited the scene.

He told reporters: “I did not know them personally but from what people have told me they were a very religious family, very humble, very modest and very generous.

“The mother was a scholar herself and clearly they were a family that was into religion and education and were held in very high esteem by the local community.”

Local store-keeper Sattar Raidhan, who has lived in the area for 35 years, said: “I believe the husband worked as a doctor in Ireland and he came home every weekend to see his family. I can’t even imagine how this would happen to a family like that.”

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