On the night of February 16, 2025, battery businessman Anokh Mittal insisted on taking his wife, Lapsi Mittal, out for a late Valentine's dinner at BMAX Mall in Ludhiana, Punjab. On their return drive along Dhandra Road, Anokh stopped their car under the pretext of using the washroom, turning on the car's hazard indicators. Four to five assailants in another vehicle arrived and launched a violent attack with swords and knives. When Lapsi fought back to defend her husband, the attackers brutally assaulted her, fracturing her skull and causing fatal injuries, while Anokh sustained only minor cuts before the attackers fled with the car. A nearby dhaba owner alerted police after hearing screams. Anokh initially claimed to police that robbers had sprayed an intoxicating substance in his face and robbed them. However, police CCTV analysis showed Anokh stopping twice and turning on hazard lights as a signal during the second stop. Call detail records revealed frequent contact with Prateeksha, an employee at his battery dealership with whom he was having an extramarital affair and wished to marry. Forensic analysis found no trace of chemical spray in the recovered car. Furthermore, police discovered that immediately after the attack, Anokh sent a text message reading 'Done' to Prateeksha. When confronted with this evidence under the guise of a routine medical exam, Anokh confessed to orchestrating the murder using a former employee as a contract killer for 2.5 lakh rupees, having previously failed two earlier contract killing attempts after previous hitmen took his money without carrying out the act.
Country: India
State/Province: Punjab, India
City/Region: Ludhiana
Incident Type: Domestic Violence Homicide
Relationship Status: Married
Relationship Duration:
Incident Date: Feb. 16, 2025
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
How the relationship or connection began.
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2025-02-16
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Infidelity
Anokh Mittal engaged in an extramarital affair with his employee Prateeksha and sought to eliminate his wife, Lapsi Mittal, so he could remarry. After two previous failed contract killing attempts where hired hitmen took his money without acting, Anokh arranged a third attempt through a former employee. He staged a romantic dinner date shortly after posting an uncharacteristically affectionate social media video, then signaled the hitmen along a secluded road by flashing his car's hazard lights.
Ludhiana Police investigated the case on Dhandra Road. Initial suspicion arose from the disparity between Lapsi's severe, fatal injuries and Anokh's minor cuts, as well as Anokh's omitted roadside stops. CCTV footage revealed Anokh turning on hazard lights during a second stop, serving as a signal to the pursuers. CDR logs established intense communication with his employee Prateeksha. Forensic team scanned the stolen car upon recovery and found no trace of chemical spray claimed by Anokh. Text logs revealed Anokh texted 'Done' to Prateeksha immediately after the murder. Anokh confessed during interrogation after police brought him in under the guise of a routine medical exam.
Anokh Mittal initially attempted to frame the incident as a violent armed robbery by miscreants who allegedly sprayed an intoxicating chemical on his face to make him faint. He also staged a public sit-in protest alongside fellow businessmen demanding justice, creating public pressure and making police cautious about arresting him directly as a victim.
Anokh Mittal planned to kill his wife Lapsi to marry Prateeksha. On February 16 night, he took Lapsi to BMAX Mall for dinner and communicated with the hired hitmen. On Dhandra Road, he stopped once without hazard lights, causing the hitmen to overshoot. He drove ahead and stopped a second time, turning on all four hazard indicators as a visual signal. The hitmen attacked, and when Lapsi resisted to defend her husband, they fatally assaulted her and took the car. Anokh texted Prateeksha 'Done' right after the incident and joined protests to divert suspicion, but CCTV, CDR, and forensic evidence led to his confession.
The case demonstrates significant risk markers, including a hidden extramarital affair, persistent murder planning over time despite multiple failed attempts, and deliberate behavioral manipulation such as displaying public affection on social media to build an alibi. Anokh's determination to end the marriage through violence rather than legal divorce posed extreme lethal danger to his wife.
Sudden uncharacteristic displays of public affection or romantic dates amid underlying marital rift can serve as behavioral camouflage in planned domestic homicides. Forensic verification of suspect claims (such as chemical sprays) and digital trail analysis ('Done' text messages, hazard light signaling on CCTV) are critical in dismantling staged crime scenes.
Anokh Mittal posted a cheerful dancing video with his wife on social media two to three days before the incident, which was completely out of character with his historical posting pattern, serving as artificial camouflage.
CCTV showed Anokh stopping twice under the pretext of using the washroom and turning on all four hazard indicators during the second stop. Furthermore, CDR logs showed frequent contact with his employee Prateeksha.
Key evidence included CCTV footage of the hazard light signal, CDR showing heavy contact with Prateeksha, the text message 'Done' sent to Prateeksha immediately after the attack, and forensic evidence showing no chemical spray residue in the recovered car.
A nearby dhaba owner located approximately 300 meters away heard screams from the road, discovered the bleeding victims outside the car, and alerted the Ludhiana police.
Initial reporting treated the incident as a highway robbery targeting a prominent businessman and his wife. Follow-up investigation revealed a premeditated contract killing orchestrated by the husband and his lover.
The exact identities and legal processing status of all individual hitmen involved in the physical assault on Dhandra Road are not fully detailed in the report.