Aaftab Poonawala, who has been accused of strangling and then chopping his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, disclosed that he burnt her photographs after the murder. He also transferred money that she owed him, from her account to his, out of anger.
The accused told investigators that he burnt three large-sized photographs of Shraddha after the murder. Two of these photographs were from their Uttarakhand trip, while the third was a 2020 photograph taken at the Gateway of India. According to a report in Times of India, he smashed the photo frames and then burnt the photographs.
On May 26, he ‘took back’ the Rs 54,000 that she owed him out of anger. This transaction was one of the key pointers that led the police to question him.
The report stated that Shraddha Walkar threw an object at him during an argument, and he strangled her out of anger. Once she stopped responding, he stopped.
However, police believe that he might be misleading them and will send him for a narco test. If the test remains inconclusive, the police might opt for a polygraph or a brain-mapping test.
Police searched the Mehrauli forest area in Delhi and DLF Phase 3 forest area in Gurugram in search for the missing remains of Shraddha Walkar. Police have recovered bones from these forest areas and have sent for forensic investigation to ascertain if they are Shraddha’s.
DLF Phase 3 forest area was searched because Poonawala worked at a call centre in Gurugram, and, the police suspect that he might have dumped her phone, body parts and murder weapon on his way to work.
Delhi Police also pumped out water from a lake in Maidangarhi in search of Shraddha Walkar’s missing body parts.
Also read: Shraddha murder case: Police drain pond in search of remains; femur, knee cap found in jungle
Also read: Delhi murder case: CCTV footage shows Aaftab possibly disposing mortal remains of Shraddha Walkar