An ex-Indian army officer killed himself after killing his whole family near Fresno, California. Neighbours revealed some troubling allegations claiming that the former Indian army officer was a wanted man in his homeland on charges of murder.

The news spread like fire in the close-knit Indian community. The majority of Indians in the area are Punjabi Sikhs, like the family.

Authorities have said the former officer, Avtar Singh, shot his wife and two children and gravely wounded a third child early Saturday before turning the gun on himself. Investigators were still trying to determine a motive.

"Our community is completely shocked," said Rajbir Singh Pannu, president of the town's Sikh temple. "It's a really bad misfortune, especially for the children who died. Anybody who takes somebody's life, in our religion that's cowardice."

About an year ago, Singh was arrested by the police for domestic abuse, after his wife claimed that he choked her. This incident set off a process that prompted the Indian government to seek his extradition days later in the 1996 death of a prominent lawyer and human rights activist in Kashmir.

In India, the lawyer and brother of Jalil Andrabi — the murdered human rights activist — blamed the Indian government saying, "These lives could have been saved if a trial of Maj. Avtar Singh was conducted on time," said Andrabi's brother, Arshad. "We have lost that chance now. He was a known murderer and we are appalled that he was even shielded in the United States. It's a failure of justice at all levels."

Singh called police around 6.15 am. and told them that he had just killed four people, Fresno County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Curtice said. A sheriff's SWAT team was called in to assist because of Singh's military background and the Indian charges against him.

The SWAT team found the bodies of Singh, a woman believed to be his wife and two children, ages 3 and 15 in the home. All appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.

An Indian reporter, freelancer Zahid Rafiq, told The Associated Press that Singh also called him and threatened to kill him if he approached Singh for an interview.

The human rights lawyer killed in 1996 disappeared at the height of protests in Kashmir, where nearly a dozen rebel groups have fought security forces for independence or merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilian, have been killed in the uprising and subsequent crackdown.

A police investigation said Andrabi had been picked up from his Srinagar home by troops and killed in their custody. The probe blamed Singh and his soldiers for that killing and also accused Singh of involvement in the killings of six other Kashmiri men.

Singh had been charged in Kashmir only with Andrabi's killing. But Kashmir police had also sought permission from the government of India for Singh's prosecution in the six other killings.

Under India's Armed Forces Special Powers Act, federal permission has to be obtained before police can prosecute any army or paramilitary soldier posted in Kashmir. AP