Brella Murder: Four UK Cops Handed Disciplinary Notice | Delhi News

London: Four UK police officers have been served disciplinary notices over their handling of Harshita Brella‘s domestic abuse complaint that she made prior to being murdered.
Brella’s body was found inside a car boot in Ilford, east London, on 14 Nov last year.
Her husband, Pankaj Lamba (23) who hails from Dharauli in UP, is on the run and believed to be in India. He was charged with her murder and other offences in his absence at Northampton Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday.
UK authorities believe Lamba murdered Brella on 10 Nov in Corby, where they both lived, and then drove her body to London, before boarding a flight to India, arriving in India on 12 Nov.
On Aug 29 last year, Northamptonshire Police received a report of domestic abuse by Brella (24), who had moved to the UK from Sadh Nagar in Palam, Delhi, last April, following her marriage to Lamba. Lamba was arrested on Sept 3 and bailed. A domestic violence protection order was authorised at Northampton Magistrates Court on Sept 5, which remained in place until Oct 1. She was moved to a woman’s refuge.
Northamptonshire police made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after she was murdered.
IOPC director Derrick Campbell told TOI: “Our investigation into Northamptonshire Police contact with Harshita Brella, and her husband Pankaj Lamba, prior to her body being found in Nov is progressing. We are continuing to gather and review evidence setting out the contact the force had and the actions and decision-making by police officers involved. After assessment of the evidence to date, we have served disciplinary notices on four Northamptonshire Police officers, two at the level of gross misconduct and two for potential misconduct. The gross misconduct notices on two detective constables cover alleged failings to progress enquiries and communicate with Brella after her report of domestic abuse at the end of Aug 2024. The misconduct notices on two more senior officers relate to their supervision of the case and relevant risk assessments.”
Such notices advise officers they are subject to investigation. At the end of the investigation, decisions will be taken as to whether any officer has a disciplinary case to answer. Brella’s father, Satbir, told the BBC in Dec 2024 that Brella had called her father crying on Aug 29. “She said ‘he beat me really badly. He even beat me in the street’,” Satbir had said.