Panchkula family suicide: Three kids among 7 dead, police suspect financial issues (Ld)

Chandigarh, May 27 (IANS) Seven members of a family, comprising three minors, from Uttarakhand reportedly were found dead in a car parked on a vacant plot in Sector 27 of Panchkula in Haryana, police said on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations indicate the family allegedly committed suicide owing to mounting financial debt.

The dead included two minor girls, aged 12-13 years, their brother aged 14, their parents and grandparents, said the police.

The police suspected that the family, who previously lived in Chandigarh, had committed suicide.

All seven were found inside the same car, whose rear windshield was covered with a towel, said Additional Commissioner of Police Vikram Nehra.

He said when the victims were shifted to a nearby hospital in Panchkula, only the children’s father was breathing. But he died during treatment.

According to the police, two of the dead have been identified as Praveen Mittal and his father, Deshraj Mittal.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the family may have taken this step due to increasing financial strain.

A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway.

Initial findings suggest the members died in a suicide pact, but police have launched a full investigation to ascertain the circumstances.

Speaking on the issue, DCP (Pandhkula) Himadri Kaushik, who visited the crime scene, said that they have received information that six people had been brought to Ojas Hospital. “When we reached there, we found out that they are all dead. Another person was brought to the Civil Hospital, Sector 6; he has also been declared dead. Prima facie, it looks like a matter of suicide. All the investigating officers are at the spot. All of the deceased are family members,” she said.

The police said one of the victims, Praveen Mittal, was running a tour and travel business in Dehradun. He suffered significant financial losses, and this might have led him to take the extreme step along with his family.

--IANS

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