Shraddha murder case: Police drain pond in search of remains; femur, knee cap found in jungle

The Delhi Police pumped out water from a lake in Maidangarhi in search of Shraddha Walkar’s body parts that her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala threw after allegedly murdering her. Searches continued in Delhi and Gurugram as the police attempted to find the body parts that are yet to be recovered. 

Delhi Police reportedly recovered bones that appeared to be part of a skull from different forest areas, according to a report in The Indian Express. The recovered bits of bones will be sent to forensic examination to verify if they are human, the police said. 

The police have limited time left to conduct their searches and find evidence as Poonawala’s custody ends on Tuesday. He is likely to be sent for a narco-analysis on Monday or Tuesday, as they suspect him of misleading them. 

A team went to Gurugram on Sunday as Poonawala worked at a call centre there and conducted searches around DLF Phase 3 forest area. Police suspect that Poonawala might had dumped Shraddha Walkar’s phone, body parts as well as the murder weapon on his way to work. 

Police had also taken Poonawala to the Mehrauli forest to identify the locations where he dumped her body parts. The police visited the forest thrice on November 16, and found some bones. They found a big bone resembling a femur, also the longest bone in the body, along with a radius-ulna (bone between the wrist and elbow), and patella (knee cap).

These bones appear to have cut marks, and are believed to have been cut with a big sharp weapon. The police will send these bones to the Forensic Science Laboratory to ascertain if they are Shraddha’s. 

Aaftab Poonawala has been accused of murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar following an argument, and chopping her into pieces. He then bought a refrigerator and stored her body parts in it for days. Poonawala then, for 18 nights, went out and dumped her body parts in different parts of the city. He is currently under police custody. The Delhi Police have recovered multiple parts of her body but are yet to recover her remains completely. 

Also read: Delhi murder: Shraddha called sick often due to domestic abuse, says former co-worker

Also read: Delhi murder case: CCTV footage shows Aaftab possibly disposing mortal remains of Shraddha Walkar