Rs 20 Crore Debt Reportedly Behind Suicide Pact Of Family Of 7

Praveen Mittal, who died in an alleged suicide pact, along with six of his family members, was reportedly under a huge debt, amounting to around Rs 20 crore, informed his cousin. Mr Mittal and family - elderly parents, wife and three young children - died in a mass suicide on Monday night. The family left behind a note, requesting that the last rites be performed by Mr Mittal's cousin Sandeep Agarwal, whom he spoke to five days ago.

A few years ago, Mr Mittal had set up a scrap factory in Himachal Pradesh's Baddi, which was later seized by the bank due to increasing debt. One day, financially distressed, Mr Mittal left Panchkula and moved to Dehradun. There, he remained out of touch with the family, for about six years.

At the time of move, Mr Mittal had a debt of about Rs 20 crore, said his cousin Sandeep Agarwal.

Later, he moved to Kharar in Punjab, and then Pinjore in Haryana, where he stayed with his father-in-law, before returning to Panchkula a month ago.

Mr Mittal, who hails from Barwala in Hisar, was working as a taxi driver in Panchkula's Saketri region.

The bank had also seized his two flats and vehicles.

How Suicide Pact Unfolded

On Monday, Mr Mittal and family, residents of Dehradun, attended a spiritual event at the Bageshwar Dham. While on their way back, the family allegedly consumed poison and died by suicide.

The incident came to light when Puneet Rana, a resident of the neighbourhood, who was out on a walk, spotted the car with an Uttarakhand number plate parked behind his car. A man, believed to be Praveen Mittal, was sitting by the car, on the pavement.

"What we found odd was a towel hanging from the car," said Mr Rana. "My brother and I approached the man and asked him where he was from. He said the family was returning from Bageshwar Dham. Since they didn't find any hotel, they decided to spend the night in the car. I asked him to move the car to the market area," he added.

The man got up, apparently to move the car, but Mr Rana sensed something wrong. When he approached the car and peered inside, he saw a horrifying scene - six dead bodies and a stinking car.

"I saw six people lying flat. They had vomited on each other. The car was stinking. I pulled the man away and asked what the matter was. He then said his family had died in a suicide pact and that he would die too, in five minutes. The man claimed to be under huge debt," Mr Rana shared.

The family was rushed to the hospital but all were declared dead. The man could have been saved, had the ambulance arrived on time, said Mr Rana.

The dead have been identified as Praveen Mittal, wife, his elderly parents - Deshraj Mittal and Bimla Devi - and three young children - twin daughters aged 13 and a 15-year-old boy, Hardik.