Shraddha Walkar Murder Case: Accused Aftab Poonawala shows ‘NO SIGNS of REMORSE’, appears CONFIDENT, say cops

New Delhi/Mumbai: Delhi Police will produce Aftab Amin Poonawala, the live-in partner and killer of Shraddha Walkar, in Delhi’s Saket Court on Thursday during which it will request the court to extend his remand. Delhi Police officials who have interrogated Aftab have said that despite committing such a heinous crime, he has shown no signs of regret or remorse and appears confident.

Search for Shraddha’s body parts continue

Delhi Police, which has obtained the court’s nod for narco test of Aaftab A Poonawala, will continue its search for remaining body parts of his live-in partner in the forest area in Chhatarpur. According to the investigators, the narco test is necessary since Poonawala is changing his statements and not cooperating in the probe. Walker's head, phone and the weapon used in the crime have not been recovered so far, police said, adding it is suspected that Poonawala allegedly tried to kill her in the past too and this is being investigated. Blood samples of Walkar's father were also collected for DNA analysis of the 13 body parts recovered so far.

Police said the couple used to have frequent arguments over financial issues and it is suspected that there was also a fight between them that resulted in Poonawala killing 27-year-old Shradha Walkar on the evening of May 18.Twenty-eight-year-old Poonawala allegedly strangled Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight.

'Strained relationship, infidelity and financial issues'

During the probe, more details came to light about Poonawala and Walkar's strained relationship, with friends and family alleging that the woman was unhappy with him and frequent fights used to happen over financial issues and suspicion of infidelity. The police also found that post May 22, Rs 54,000 was transferred from Walkar's bank account to Poonawala and investigators are also scanning chats between the duo on social media. Walker was insisting Poonawala to get all their belongings from the Mumbai house but apparently the couple did not have enough money to go back to Mumbai. This also further created tension between them, said a police official.

Lack of evidence

"The police have managed to recover some footages from a CCTV camera in the Chhatarpur area. Even though movement of suspect has been spotted but his actions are not clear. CCTV mapping will be used to connect visuals and ascertain the route taken by Poonawalla," the official said. He said that it will be difficult to trace and recover all the CCTV footages from May since most of the systems do not have storage capacity. As far as evidence is concerned, police said they have recovered some bones and a bag which are believed to be that of Walker. The bag has clothes and other items.

The police added that the accused was taken to the flat where the couple stayed as part of recreation of scene of crime to ascertain and establish how he went about executing the killing. Another senior police officer who is part of the probing team said that Poonawala was taken to Mehrauli forest area for the second consecutive day as part of their ongoing searches to find the remaining chopped pieces of the victim's body.

The Narco test involves the intravenous administration of a drug (such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine and sodium amytal) that causes the subject to enter into various stages of anaesthesia. In the hypnotic stage, the subject becomes less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state. According to norms, the consent of the accused is also necessary for conducting narco test.

"Since, he has been continuously changing his statements and is not cooperating in the probe, a narco test is necessary to verify his claims. The phone used by the victim and the weapon used to chop her body has not been recovered yet and further investigation is underway," the official said. "We have noticed some suspicious bank transactions too and are verifying the details" the official added.

Allegations Of Forced Conversion 

Meanwhile, Walkar's close friend Rajat Shukla said it was possible that Poonawala might have been forcing her to convert (her religion)."He (Poonawala) is not an ordinary man...Love Jihad, terrorism, or may be some mission in the entire case...An investigation should be done into the case and the truth should come out. He was misleading people but the reality has to come out now,” Shukla said. "Poonawala did not seem to be a lover as such a person cannot commit a heinous crime like chopping the body of a person he loved into pieces, keeping them in a fridge and disposing them in a forest," he said.

Shukla also said they came to know in 2019 about Poonawala being in a live-in relationship with Walkar."But it seems both of them were in a relationship since 2018 and kept it a secret. A few of our friends had also met Poonawala," he added. On the other hand, a social activist, with whom call centre employee Walkar had participated in a Mumbai beach clean-up drive, has claimed the deceased suspected Poonawala of cheating on her and appeared quiet and aloof during the cleanliness campaigns.

Walkar also had financial problems and she and Poonawala used to have frequent fights, said activist Shreha Dhargalkar who runs an NGO.
Dhargalkar said Walkar, who had participated in the cleanliness drive, did not want to leave her call centre job at Malad in Mumbai.

Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar met each other through an online dating application. Later, they started working for same call centre in Mumbai and fell in love. But their families objected to the relationship as they belong to different faiths, prompting the couple to move to Mehrauli earlier this year. Around mid-May, the couple had an argument over marriage, which escalated and Poonawala killed her.

(With Agency Inputs)