Police hunting a man believed to have fled the country after his wife was murdered and discovered in the boot of a car have released new CCTV images of the suspect.
The body of 24-year-old Harshita Brella was found in the early hours of Thursday in Ilford, east London, nearly 100 miles from her home in Corby, Northamptonshire, after concerns were raised for her welfare.
A post-mortem examination found that she had been murdered and revealed her cause of death to have been strangulation, Northamptonshire Police said on Tuesday. An inquest into her death will be opened on Wednesday morning at The Guildhall in Northampton.
An international manhunt was launched on Thursday for her husband, 23-year-old Pankaj Lamba, who is believed to have fled the country.
Renewing their appeal for information on Tuesday, the force said detectives had been piecing together hours of CCTV footage in the Corby and Ilford areas to track the movements of their suspect – released new images which they hope may prompt new witnesses to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell said: “Our inquiries have established that Pankaj Lamba drove a silver Vauxhall Corsa from Corby to Ilford sometime on the morning of Monday, November 11.
“We suspect Harshita’s body had been placed in the boot of the vehicle by Lamba before leaving Corby. Lamba then abandoned the vehicle in Brisbane Road, Ilford and made his getaway.”
The new pictures showed the silver Vauxhall Corsa on Brisbane Road, along with two CCTV images showing Mr Lamba on Brisbane Road and nearby Jaffe Road.
“We are continuing to appeal for information and I would urge anyone who may have seen anything suspicious or had any sightings of Pankaj Lamba in Corby, Ilford or elsewhere in the days leading up to the discovery of Harshita’s body, to contact police as soon as possible.
“Any information, no matter how small, may be relevant to the investigation and help us get justice for Harshita.
“Specialist officers continue to provide support to Harshita’s family and our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time as they try come to terms with the tragic loss of their daughter and sister.”
The fresh appeal comes after Brella’s mother Sudesh Kumari called for justice for her daughter, as she spoke tearfully to the BBC from her family’s home in Delhi.
Her sister Sonia Dabas said Brella was “very excited” to move to the UK in April after an arranged marriage and wedding ceremony the previous month.
But Ms Dabas said her sister “didn’t live a very happy life in London and “struggled a lot because of her husband”. In August, she called her father in India to say that she had run away, according to Ms Dabas.
A neighbour of Brella’s told the Daily Mirror that she overheard an argument between a man and a woman on Wednesday, saying: “They were arguing in a different language so I couldn’t understand what was being said. But it sounded angry and there were raised voices and the woman sounded scared.”
Brella’s family said they had last spoken to her by phone on Sunday 10 November, and she had told them she was waiting for Mr Lamba to come home after making dinner for him.
But after two days of Brella’s phone being switched off, her family came to suspect that “something was wrong” and on Wednesday 13 November asked people they knew to file a complaint, her sister said.
Police have since revealed that Brella was previously the victim of domestic violence, and in early September was made the subject of a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) at Northampton Magistrates’ Court, lasting only 28 days.
Northamptonshire Police have referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), confirming they had prior contact with Ms Brella before her death.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police by calling 101, quoting Operation Westcott. Alternatively information can be submitted via an online public portal at mipp.police.uk or by calling Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.
