Praveen Mittal and six members of his family were found dead inside a car in Panchkula, Haryana, in a heartbreaking incident linked to overwhelming financial stress. According to Praveen’s maternal uncle’s son, the family had been receiving continuous death threats over their inability to repay a staggering loan amounting to Rs 20 crore.

Local residents discovered the unconscious family members inside the car on Sunday. They managed to rescue one person who was still alive but who tragically succumbed to poison shortly after revealing their family’s desperate plight. “I will die in five minutes as I have also consumed poison,” the man told a local resident.

Praveen, originally from Barwala in Hisar, had moved to Panchkula 12 years ago. He once owned a scrap factory in Himachal Pradesh, but it was seized by the bank due to unpaid debts, as shared by Praveen’s cousin, Sandeep Agarwal. The mounting financial pressure forced the family to relocate from Hisar to Dehradun and later to Panchkula, where Praveen worked as a taxi driver to support his family.

“The bank had already taken over Praveen’s two flats, his factory, and his vehicles,” Sandeep said. He also revealed that he had spoken to Praveen just five days before the tragedy. In a suicide note left behind, Praveen had asked Sandeep to perform his last rites, underscoring the grim reality faced by the family.

This devastating case highlights the severe impact of crushing debt and financial despair on families across the region.