Jagmit Singh Brar, former Congress member of Parliament from Punjab, has welcomed an open investigation into the murders of four children whose bodies were found next to his abandoned rice mill in Muktsar district of Punjab.

"I welcome any kind of probe into the brutal killings, and my heart goes out to the parents of the innocent children," Brar told reporters in New Delhi late on Tuesday night.

Brar, controversial member of the Congress party, has been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. "I may have ideological differences with my colleagues, but I do not think that they would stoop so low," he said.

The children, according to Inspector General of Police V K Bhawra, belonged to Pothi Kalan village in Muktsar, and had been reported missing since November 14.

With the election scheduled for the State Assembly already announced, Brar's political opponents are leaving no stone unturned to embarrass the Congress party by demanding the arrest of Brar forthwith.

Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal has alleged that the incident has the overtones of the Nithari killings and mentioned that names of Congress leaders in the state had already propped up in the Nithari case in Noida. Mohinder Singh Pandher, prime suspect in the case, has links with several senior leaders of Punjab.