A woman is being questioned by the Punjab police in connection with the recovery of bodies of four minor children from an abandoned rice mill belonging to former Congress MP Jagmeet Brar.

The woman, who had been interrogated earlier after the father of one of the missing children had suspected her of kidnapping them in November last, has been detained for questioning following the recovery of the bodies, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) G Nageshwar Rao told PTI in Muktsar on Wednesday.

He said that parents had identified the bodies of three children and the fourth body had been identified by the child's grandfather. They have been names as Ratni (13), Ashki (9), Satbir and Bholi (both 10).

The bodies have been sent for post mortem, the SSP said.

A three member forensic team from Chandigarh visited the mill and collected samples from the mill. The bodies were found in the mill after a police team sent to the area for setting up a security post detected a foul smell from the building.

Rao said that the 13-year-old girl was suspected to have been raped before the killing as bloodstains were found on her body and also near the spot from where the body was recovered.

The rape would be confirmed only after the police get the post mortem report, he added. The four children were strangulated to death with a long pieces of cloth, SSP said adding that the hands and the legs of the children were tied with clothes.

He said the woman taken into custody for questioning had been interrogated earlier also after father of one of the missing children had suspected her hand in the kidnapping. He said DNA tests would be conducted after taking the samples from the four bodies to match them with their parents, all of whom are rag pickers.

The parents of the victims said they faced difficulty in identifying the bodies as they were mutilated and partly burnt. The case is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team headed by local Superintendent of Police.