Family had returned to Panchkula from Dehradun after nine years. Relatives say they were in debt running into crores and were receiving threats from creditors. Six members of a family that originally belonged to Hisar were found dead in a car parked in a vacant plot in Sector 27, Panchkula, on Monday night, while the seventh died in hospital in what police suspect to be a suicide pact due to financial distress.
Panchkula deputy commissioner of police Himadri Kaushik, said, “Prima facie, it appears to be a matter of suicide. However, further investigations are on.” Police identified the deceased as a 41-year-old businessman, his wife, the couple’s three children, including their 14-year-old son and 12-year-old twin girls, besides his parents. Two months ago, the family had shifted from Dehradun and was staying in Saketri on the outskirts of Panchkula.
A local youngster, Puneet Rana, said he was out for a walk around 10pm when he spotted the Dehradun-registered Hyundai car parked with a towel hanging from one of its doors. He went close and found six people in the car motionless. The seventh he found breathing with difficulty, yet managed to tell him that his family was under huge debt and that he was also going to die.
“I used a torch to look inside and saw that they had all vomited on each other,” Rana said, adding the man, who was in the driver’s seat and still conscious at the time, told him, “I am under huge debt and will also die in five minutes.” The youngster raised the alarm and all seven were rushed to hospital, the police said. Kaushik said six of the family members were taken to a private hospital, while one was taken to the civil hospital. However, he too died later. “We are investigating the case from all angles. We are questioning the people in the area and going through the CCTV footage,” DCP (Crime), Panchkula, Amit Dahiya said.
ACP, headquarters, Vikram Nehra said a suicide note, purportedly signed by the businessman, was recovered from the car. “The letter says no one is responsible for the deaths and that they were taking the step due to financial losses,” Nehra said, adding that the note also mentioned that his father-in-law should not be held responsible for the extreme step. A bottle of a psychiatric medicine was also recovered from the car, raising suspicion that the family may have consumed it.
Police investigation revealed that the family had suffered heavy financial losses between 2005 and 2008, prompting them to leave Panchkula. A relative said the family had abandoned their property, including flats, a car, and a factory in Baddi, nine years ago and relocated to Dehradun. “They were under debt running into crores and were receiving threats,” he said.
The family originally belonged to Hisar and was running taxis as part of a tour and travel business in Dehradun before returning to Panchkula two months ago.
Another relative said the family had earlier owned a flat worth ₹2.5 crore but suffered business losses of up to ₹7 crore. “After abandoning the flat, which was later taken over by the bank, the businessman had no steady source of income locally. After leaving Dehradun, where he ran a taxi business, the family shifted back and started living with his father-in-law in Kharar before finding a rented accommodation in Saketri at ₹10,000 a month.
“We met at a family function on April 30, but they were clearly under financial and emotional stress,” the relative said.
