Panchkula tragedy: Family of 7 found dead in car faced Rs 20-crore debt
PTC Web Desk: In a deeply tragic incident reported on Tuesday, seven members of a family were found dead inside a car parked outside a residence in Haryana's Panchkula. The family, led by Praveen Mittal, was reportedly under immense financial stress of approximately Rs 20 crore.
Local residents found the unconscious family inside the vehicle and managed to rescue one man who was still breathing. Before succumbing to the effects of suspected poisoning, he reportedly told Puneet Rana, a bystander, that the entire family was overwhelmed by debt. “I have also consumed poison. I will die in five minutes,” he told Rana.
Praveen Mittal, originally from Barwala in Hisar, had relocated to Panchkula 12 years ago. He ran a scrap factory in Himachal Pradesh, which was later seized by the bank after loan defaults. His cousin, Sandeep Agarwal, said the family was in dire straits due to financial crunch.
It is learnt that facing relentless financial pressure, the family had earlier fled from Hisar to Dehradun. Currently, the family was settled near Saketri village in Panchkula, where Praveen took up work as a taxi driver to support his family.
Sandeep also revealed that he last spoke to Praveen just five days before the incident. In a suicide note reportedly left by Praveen, he had asked Sandeep to perform his last rites.
- With inputs from agencies
