Delhi Police recovered the weapon that Aaftab Poonawala had used to dismember his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar. After strangling her, Poonawala allegedly cut Shraddha’s body into 35 pieces and stored them in a newly-bought 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his Mehrauli residence.
The accused has been lodged in barrack number 4 of Delhi’s Tihar jail.
Police also recovered Shraddha Walkar’s ring that Aaftab gifted to another girl he had invited over to his flat. While the second girl was in the flat, Shraddha’s body pieces were stored in the refrigerator.
Soon after Aaftab was arrested, the Delhi Police recovered five knives from his residence, which were then sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to ascertain if they were used in the crime.
Aaftab also underwent the remaining sessions of the polygraph test that were conducted by the FSL in Delhi’s Rohini. He had undergone three sessions on Friday.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Aaftab met some of Shraddha’s friends after killing her and cooked up stories about a break up. Delhi Police sources told India Today that Aaftab used her phone by connecting it to a Wi-Fi to chat with her friends in order to not raise any suspicions. He had destroyed her SIM card after the murder.
Initially a missing case was registered at the Manikpur police station on October 12 by Shraddha Walkar’s family. Aaftab was called for interrogation on October 20 but his gadgets were not checked at that time.
Meanwhile, he continued using the victim’s phone till October 23. He disposed of her cell phone and other evidence before he was called for the second round of questioning on October 26. But the Manikpur police took Aaftab’s statement orally on October 26, where he said that she left him after a quarrel.
Once he was alert, he returned to Delhi after November 4 and started destroying the rest of the evidence, including the murder weapon.
Also read: Shraddha Walkar murder case: Aaftab Poonawala undergoes remaining polygraph sessions