New Delhi: Aftab Amin Poonawala, accused in Shraddha Walkar murder case in the national capital, had made an attempt to trick and cheat the police of Delhi and Mumbai during the initial days of investigation ahead of his arrest on 12 November.
Aftab Poonawala, 28-year-old man, had tried to hide the murder of Shraddha by removing all physical evidence, but police could trace him through the digital evidence which helped them to unravel the truth.
How did Delhi Police investigation begin in Shraddha murder case?
When the Delhi Police started investigating the Shraddha murder case, Aftab told the cops that his live-in partner (Shraddha) left the house on 22 May after a fight.
For the unversed, Shraddha was killed on 18 May this year.
News agency ANI quoted its sources saying that during the probe, Aftab said that Shraddha left the house only with her mobile phone and left all her belonging back in their flat. He further claimed that he tried contacting her, but her number was unreachable.
Aftab alleged that after several attempts, he had stopped calling her and did not come in contact with her.
He was caught lying when the police check his and Shraddha’s phone call records and traced their locations.
After murdering Shraddha, Aftab transferred Rs 54,000 from her account
Delhi Police got the access of bank statement of the couple which revealed that on 26 May, Rs 54,000 was transferred from Shraddha’s net banking account app to Aftab’s account.
This made the police case stronger and Aftab’s lies exposed as he had earlier told the cops that Shraddha was unreachable since 22 May and that he did not come in contact with her.
Interestingly, the location of bank transfer that took place on 26 May also turned out to be the Mehrauli Police Station in south Delhi.
Did Aftab message Shraddha’s friends from her Instagram?
Police said that on 31 May, there was a chat with Shraddha’s friend from her Instagram account. When the police traced the location of the phone, it turned out to be in Mehrauli police station area.
Aftab failed to answer the cops’ question that if Shraddha had carried her mobile phone along with her, why was its location being traced to his house in Mehrauli? It was then, the 28-year-old killer revealed the truth.
Later during the interrogation and constant grilling Aftab said, he kept posting on Shraddha’s profile after the murder to pre-empt any doubts or suspicions about her whereabouts.
Aftab was called for questioning in October
As per ANI sources in the Maharashtra Police, a missing complaint was filed by Shraddha’s family at the Manikpur police station after they could not contact her due to her phone being switched off.
After receiving the complaint, cops summoned Aftab twice to the Manikpur police station for questioning – once last month and the second time on 3 November.
“When Aftab was asked about Shraddha, he said that Shraddha had left the place where he lived. And they do not live together. Whenever he was called for questioning, he never showed restlessness or nervousness on his face,” the source in Maharashtra Police said.
During the second round of questioning on 3 November, the police had recorded a two-page statement.
On Tuesday, during his confession before the Delhi Police, Aftab confessed, “More than a week before the murder (18 May), I had made up my mind to kill Shraddha. Even on that day, Shraddha and I had a fight. I was determined to kill her when she suddenly became emotional and started crying. So I held back for later.”
Shraddha had trust issues, claimed Aftab
During the interrogation, Aftab said his live-in partner Shraddha had trust issues and its was due to this, she would often get angry which lead to frequent quarrels.
“I often had to talk to someone over the phone. However, she would doubt my commitment to the relationship every time she caught me speaking over the phone. She used to get very angry,” Aftab told the Delhi Police.
On further grilling, Aftab told police that on 18 May, he had a fight with Shraddha during which he killed her.
‘Googled ways entire night to search ways to dispose Shraddha’s body’
During the confession, Aftab told Delhi Police, “I was scared as I knew that if I dumped the body somewhere, I might be caught. I browsed Google all night to search for ways to dispose of the body and not arouse any suspicion.”
Aftab searched for chopper to mutilate the body
Aftab said that he also searched the internet on what kind of chopper would he have to use to piece the body, ANI quoted source in Delhi Police as saying.
Aftab also confessed to his fondness for watching web series and specially those related to crime. He even said that it from these shows that he borrowed ideas on preserving the chopped-off body parts and disposing of them later.
“I am fond of watching web series and serials on crime and it was while watching these shows that I came up with ideas on preserving the body parts and keeping Shraddha alive in the eyes of her family and friends,” Aftab told the Delhi Police.
“It was to pre-empt any doubts or suspicions about her whereabouts that I kept posting on Shraddha’s Instagram profile after the murder. I did it all by myself,” he confessed to the cops.
Aftab chops Shraddha’s body into 35 pieces, disposes them
Aftab was a trained chef and knew how to use the knife on her flesh. As per ANI sources in police, he first disposed of her liver and intestines after mincing them. These organs were disposed off in the nearby forest area of Chattarpur and Mehrauli.
As the investigation proceeds, the police may now seek court’s permission to conduct Aftab’s NARCO analysis test.
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