International manhunt for Pankaj Lamba main suspect in murder of wife Harshita Brella amid fears he left the UK

Police have revealed the prime suspect in the murder of Harshita Brella is her husband Pankaj Lamba, who is feared to have left the country.

Harshita, 24, from Corby, Northamptonshire's body was found in the boot of a car in Brisbane Road, Ilford, next to Valentines Park, in the early hours of Thursday, November 14.

A post mortem examination, which took place at Leicester Royal

Infirmary on Friday, November 15, which took place at Leicester Royal Infirmary on Friday, November 15, showed she had been murdered.

Detectives from Northamptonshire Police today named Lamba as the main suspect in the hunt for her killer.

Chief Inspector Paul Cash said: "We have followed a number of lines of investigation and carried out numerous inquiries and we are now able to provide a further update.

"Our inquiries lead us to suspect that Harshita was murdered in Northamptonshire earlier this month by her husband Pankaj Lamba.

"We suspect Lamba transported Harshita’s body from Northamptonshire to Ilford by car.

"We believe he has now fled the country. We are releasing an image of Pankaj Lamba with this statement."

More than 60 detectives are working on the case and are continuing to follow numerous lines of inquiry, including house to house, property searches, CCTV and ANPR.

Mr Cash added: "We are of course continuing to appeal for any information that will help us piece together exactly what happened as we work to get justice for Harshita.

"I urge anyone that if you saw anything suspicious in the past week or have any information, no matter how small, please contact us. We would always rather receive well-meaning information that turns out to be nothing as opposed to not receiving it all.”

Anyone who has any information that could help detectives bring Harshita’s killer to justice, can contact the incident room by calling 101, quoting incident number Operation Westcott.

Alternatively information can be submitted via our online public portal at www.mipp.police.uk or by calling Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.

Mr Cash said the murder probe initially began as a missing person investigation after the force received a call on Wednesday, November 13, regarding concerns for Harshita’s welfare.

Officers were deployed to her home address in Skegness Walk, Corby, and after getting no answer, the missing person investigation was launched. 

Fast-track enquiries were made which sadly led to the discovery of her body inside the boot of a vehicle in Ilford.

Earlier today, the Northants Telegraph, which would have been sent local magistrates court lists, revealed that Harshita was made the subject of Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) at Northampton Magistrates Court in early September.

The civil orders, similar to non-molestation orders, issued by the family courts, protect alleged victims of domestic abuse by imposing restrictions upon an alleged perpetrator, even if they have not been charged with any offences.

The local newspaper did not name the alleged perpetrator the order was made against for legal reasons, but said they were banned from attending her workplace and that the order had expired as it lasted 28 days.

It also prevented the man from molesting her, threatening violence, or intimidating, harassing or pestering her, while he was also forbidden from encouraging or instructing others to contact her in any way.

Breaching such an order can lead to arrest and imprisonment.

The force has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct due to its previous contact with her.