A murder investigation has been launched after the parents of a police officer were found dead in their West Midlands home.

The bodies of Avtar Kolar, 62, and his wife Carole, 58, were found at their home in the Handsworth Wood area of Birmingham by their son, a serving West Midlands Police officer.

Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that the killings were a revenge attack linked to their son’s work with the force.

Det Supt Richard Baker, who is leading the inquiry, said: “It was obvious from the scene the couple had been assaulted and had more than likely died of their injuries.

“We currently have over 60 detectives from West Midlands Police CID along with a lot of our uniform colleagues working around the clock to catch the offenders responsible for this.”

The couple, who have four sons, were discovered in their home in Friary Road at 8am yesterday. They were found by their son after failing to answer the phone.

Mr Baker said one family member spoke to Mrs Kolar on Tuesday night and that there were no apparent problems. He said the couple, who had been married for 40 years, had eight grandchildren and were part of a “close-knit, loving family”.

Post-mortem examinations were due to be carried out today or tomorrow. And today officers were due to begin forensic analysis of the scene.

Police are said to be “keeping an open mind” about what led to the murders and will be carrying out extensive house-to-house inquiries and scouring CCTV footage.

Anyone with information can call Force CID on 101 and ask for officers working on Operation Tiler or call Crime-stoppers on 0800 555 111.