Shraddha Walkar murder: Aaftab Poonawala sent to judicial custody for 13 days

The accused was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended till November 26.
Sharaddha and Aaftab poonawala
Sharaddha and Aaftab poonawala
Written by:

A Delhi Court on Saturday, November 26, sent Aaftab Amin Poonawala, accused of killing his live-in partner and chopping her body into pieces in south Delhi's Mehrauli, to judicial custody for 13 days. Police have initiated the legal process for production of the accused for further proceedings in the polygraph test, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, Zone II) Sagar Preet Hooda said.

Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, 27, and sawed her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his Mehrauli residence, before dumping them across the city over several days. The polygraph test on Poonawala went on for nearly three hours on Friday at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi. Poonawala reached the FSL at Rohini for his third session of the polygraph test at 4 pm and left after 6.30 pm, police said.

Poonawala's four-day police remand expired on Saturday. The accused was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended for another five days on November 17. On Tuesday, he was sent to four more days of police custody.

The Delhi Police had seized five knives from Poonawala's flat and sent them to FSL to ascertain if they were used in the crime. Police had earlier said the saw allegedly used by Poonawala to cut his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar's body is yet to be recovered.

Shraddha, who worked at a call centre in Mumbai, met Aaftab on a dating app in 2019, police said. Shraddha belonged to the Koli community, and both their families reportedly objected to the relationship as they belonged to different faiths. After moving in with Aaftab, Shraddha reportedly told her parents and friends on multiple occasions that he had been violent and had physically assaulted her. On May 18, an argument broke out between the two, following which Aaftab allegedly killed her. 

Over the next two to three months, he would step out of the house around 1 to 2 am and walk to dumping yards, cremation grounds, and jungle areas near Mehrauli to dispose of the body parts which he carried in a backpack, they said. Till then, he used incense sticks, potpourri, and room fresheners to mask the stench, according to Indian Express.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com