An update from Northamptonshire Police on the murder of Harshita Brealla

Transcript

00:00Thank you. Good afternoon. I now have an update on the investigation into the murder of 24-year-old

00:06Harshita Brella from Corby. Firstly, on behalf of Northamptonshire Police, I'd like to express

00:11my deepest and heartfelt condolences to Harshita's friends and family and to everyone that knew and

00:19loved her. Harshita was a young woman in her early 20s. She had a whole life ahead of her

00:24and everything to live for and it is absolutely tragic that her life has been cut short in this

00:29way. A murder investigation was launched after the body of a woman who we have now named as Harshita

00:35was found in a car in East London. This finding came about after we received a call on Wednesday,

00:40November 13th, regarding concerns for Harshita's welfare. Officers were deployed to her home

00:46address in Skidmast Walk and after getting no answer, a missing person investigation was launched.

00:52Fast-track inquiries were made which sadly led to the discovery of a woman's body inside the boot

00:56of a vehicle on Brisbane Road in the Ilford area of London in the early hours of Thursday, November

01:0214th. A forensic post-mortem examination which took place at Leicester Royal Infirmary on Friday,

01:09November 15th, established that Harshita had been murdered. Officers and detectives from the East

01:15Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit and Northamptonshire Police, working alongside

01:20colleagues in Metropolitan Police, have been working around the clock to establish the circumstances

01:26behind Harshita's death, including the location and time frame in which it took place. We've followed a

01:33number of lines of investigation and carried out numerous inquiries and we're now able to provide

01:38further updates. Our inquiries lead us to suspect that Harshita was murdered in Northamptonshire

01:44earlier this month by her husband, Pankaj Lamma. We suspect he transported Harshita's body

01:51from Northamptonshire to Ilford by car. We now believe he has fled the country and we are

01:57releasing an image of Pankaj Lamma with this statement. More than 60 detectives are working

02:02on the case and continue to follow numerous lines of inquiry, including house-to-house, property

02:08searches, CCTV and ANPR. We're of course continuing to appeal for any information that will help us

02:15piece together exactly what happened as we work to get justice for Harshita. I urge anyone listening

02:22to or reading this statement that if you saw anything suspicious in the past week or have any

02:27information, no matter how small, please contact us. We would always rather receive well-meaning

02:34information that turns out to be nothing as opposed to not receiving it at all. Whilst we are satisfied

02:40there is no wider risk to the public, we understand how shocking and distressing such an incident can

02:45be for the local community. Our neighbourhood officers will continue to provide additional

02:50patrols in Corby in the coming days for reassurance and anyone with any concerns is welcome to approach

02:56the officers who will be happy to help. Anyone who has any information that could help

03:02bring detectives, help detectives bring Harshita's killer to justice can contact the incident room by

03:09calling 101 quoting Operation Westcom. Alternatively, information can be submitted

03:16via our online public portal at www.mipp.police.uk or please feel free to call Crime Stoppers in

03:26Confidence on 0800 555 111. Thank you for support and assistance in helping us bring Harshita's

03:34killer to justice and we'll provide further updates when we can.