CCTV footage appears to show the man suspected of killing his wife, Harshita Brella pacing outside his home hours after she was murdered.
Ms Brella was strangled to death just weeks after reporting her husband to police over alleged domestic violence.
She even told her family that she feared her partner, Pankaj Lamba ‘was going to kill her’ weeks before her death.
Her body was found last month in an abandoned vehicle in Ilford, east London – 100 miles away from her home in Corby, Northamptonshire.
Lamba, 23, has been named as the prime suspect in her murder. He is believed to have since fled to India, and is the subject of an international manhunt.
Now chilling footage has emerged of a man, believed to be Lamba, pacing outside his home for three hours on Sunday, November 10 – the day Ms Brella is thought to have been killed.
The motion-sensor camera records him walking up and down beside a light-coloured Vauxhall Corsa between 8.54pm and 11.51pm.
In the footage, obtained by ITV news, the man appears to be holding his phone as he paces around.
CCTV footage appears to show the man suspected of killing his wife, Harshita Brella pacing outside his home hours after she was strangled to death and dumped in a car boot
The man, believed to be Lamba, was seen pacing outside his home over the course of three hours on Sunday, November 10 – the day his wife is believed to have been murdered
Harshita Brella, 24, was found inside the boot of a vehicle on Brisbane Road in Ilford, east London, in the early hours of Thursday
Over the course of three hours, the motion sensor camera is activated on several occasions as the male continues to loiter around the car.
At just after 11pm, he is seen looking directly into the camera before walking towards the boot of the vehicle.
The last clip, captured at 11.51pm, the male is seen looking at his phone, walking towards the road.
ITV reports a separate piece of footage appears to show the man being disturbed by a neighbour arriving home just before midnight.
At 4am, the next time the motion-sensor camera at Lamba’s property was triggered, the Vauxhall Corsa had vanished.
Northamptonshire Police believe Ms Brella was strangled the same night the footage was taken and that Lamba drove her body 100 miles to London the following day.
Ms Brella had previously tried to run away from her husband, and she first went to police claiming to have been the victim of domestic violence in August.
She was last seen alive on November 10, walking with her husband around the Boating Lake in Corby at about 6.30pm. Detectives believe she was murdered shortly after this walk. A post-mortem examination found she had been strangled.
Detectives released CCTV footage of Ms Brella and Lamba (pictured) walking around Corby boating lake at 6.30pm on November 10 – shortly before detectives believe she was killed
The man caught on CCTV camera footage outside Lamba’s house appears to be wearing a similar black jacket to the one seen worn by Lamba just hours earlier with his wife
Another image shows the man caught on motion camera outside Lamba’s house as he appeared to pace next to a light-coloured Vauxhall Corsa (right)
Just after 10pm, the CCTV image appears to capture the man standing next to the driver’s door
Officers released a CCTV image of the couple during their walk. In it, Lamba appears to be wearing the same dark jacket to the man filmed later outside his house.
ITV reports Lamba was caught on CCTV on November 11 in Lea Street, Illford, walking towards a tube station at 10.39am.
It’s believed he took a flight from London Heathrow Airport to Mumbai later that day and then flew onwards to New Delhi – three days before Ms Brella had even been reported as missing.
Ms Brella’s family have accused police of not doing enough to protect her after Lamba was arrested following reports of domestic violence against her.
The 24-year-old was the subject of a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) in the months before her death.
The order, external told Mr Lamba not to harass, pester or intimidate her. However, after 28 days, on October 1, the order expired.
Her family have now begged for help getting justice, telling how Mr Lamba controlled his wife and left her fearing for her life.
Speaking to the BBC from the family home in India, Ms Brella’s mother Sudesh Kumari said Mr Lamba had been making her daughter’s life ‘miserable’.
She said she told her:’ I will not go back to him. He will kill me.’
Pankaj Lamba, 23, walks down Jaffe Road in Ilford after allegedly dumping his wife’s body in the boot of a car
Lamba’s Silver Vauxhall Corsa on Brisbane Road. Ms Brella’s body was later found in the vehicle
Her father Satbir Brella, 53, said police in India were ‘not listening to them’. He said: ‘I used to say to her, when I die I want you to perform my final rites. I had no idea that I would have to do hers.’
Mr Brella said his daughter called him crying on August 29 saying her husband had attacked her.
‘She said ‘he beat me really badly. He even beat me in the street’,’ Mr Brella said. ‘My daughter was crying, crying so hard.’
Ms Brella’s sister Sonia Dabas said she feels like the police ‘did not do enough to help her or protect’ her.
She went on to describe her younger sibling as ‘very innocent, so kindhearted but just a kid’.
Ms Dabas added: ‘Our world has been turned upside down. We’re calling on the UK and Indian governments to capture him.’
She said it was an arranged marriage and Ms Brella had met him for the first time three days before moving to the UK with him.
Born in Delhi, Ms Brella moved with Lamba to the UK in the April after marrying him in August 2023.
Videos on social media of her wedding in India show her panting for breath, placing a hand on her chest, with the caption: ‘That nervousness after becoming bride.’
She had spent £300 on make-up and an elaborate wedding lehenga skirt.
Ms Brella had been ‘excited’ to move but at the end of August, she phoned her father to say she had run away from the couple’s home.
Ms Dabas recalled to the BBC: ‘[Harshita] said he was hitting her and she escaped. She ran out on the streets, he chased after her.’
The family said the police had taken Ms Brella into protective accommodation but they allege she was given no additional support or counselling.
Her sister said Ms Brella suffered a miscarriage in this time and ‘felt like police were treating her like the criminal’, according to The Guardian.
Ms Brella with her sister in a video during ornate ceremonies solemnising her marriage to Pankaj Lamba
More CCTV stills showing Lamba in Ilford after he allegedly left his wife’s body in the car
Northamptonshire Police have named her husband Pankaj Lamba, 23, as a suspect
Tragic final videos show ‘very happy’ Ms Brella, 24, on her wedding day just months before her body was found in a car boot in Ilford
A domestic violence protection order was granted but he was not charged with any offence.
Ms Dabas told The Guardian: ‘The police processes just made her feel even more scared and alone. It drove her back to Pankaj.’
On the Sunday before her body was discovered, Ms Brella told her family she was cooking for her husband and ‘seemed happy’.
But on the following Wednesday, her family became worried because they couldn’t get in contact with her and called the police.
Then on Friday morning, police called her father Satbir in Delhli to say they had discovered a body they believed to be his daughter’s.
Mr Brella wants to bring the body home to perform the traditional funeral rituals but he says that neither Northamptonshire police nor the Indian embassy have been communicative when he asked about this.
‘It is terrible for us that she is alone over there,’ he said.
Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell from the East Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit (EMSOU), 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.
Forensic officers at Ms Brella’s home in Corby, Northamptonshire
Officers at murder victim Ms Brella’s home in Corby on Sunday morning
Ms Brella’s body was found 94 miles from her home in Northamptonshire
‘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.
‘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.
‘A spokesperson for Northamptonshire police said: ‘This tragic case will in due course become the subject of a domestic homicide review, in which all police actions relating to it will be fully scrutinised, so it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.’