PANCHKULA, May 27 – Seven members of a family from Dehradun were found dead inside a locked car in northern India’s Panchkula district on Tuesday, in what police suspect was a suicide pact linked to financial distress.
The bodies were discovered in a vehicle parked on a residential street in Sector 27 of Panchkula, a city in Haryana state bordering Chandigarh. Police said the family had travelled from Dehradun on Monday to attend a religious event and may have taken the drastic step on their return journey.
The deceased were identified as Praveen Mittal, 42, his parents, wife, and three children — two daughters and a son. According to initial findings, the family had been facing heavy debt.
Local residents alerted emergency services after noticing the family in distress inside the parked car. Police said a patrol unit forced open the doors and transported the victims to a private hospital and the Panchkula Civil Hospital, where all seven were declared dead on arrival.
A suicide note was recovered from the scene, police said, without disclosing its contents. Forensic teams and crime scene investigators were deployed, and the vehicle has been taken into custody for further examination.
“This is too early to reach any conclusion. Investigations are in progress, and we are trying to get in touch with their kin to complete the inquest and other formalities,” said DCP Crime Amit Dahiya, who along with DCP Himadri Kaushik, visited the site on Tuesday.
The bodies have been sent to the mortuary of a private hospital in Panchkula. Police have launched a full investigation into the incident.
