Aaftab Poonawala was taken to the Mehrauli forest area, in New Delhi on Tuesday. ANIWith the lethal weapon yet to be found, body parts yet to be discovered, and clinching CCTV footage yet to be dug up, the Delhi Police have their task cut out in investigating the murder of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar, who was killed allegedly by her live-in partner, 28-year-old Aaftab Poonawala, on May 18 this year.
Senior officers in Delhi Police told The Indian Express said multiple teams have been deployed to recover the evidence so the investigation can progress since, at the moment, a large part of the case rests on Aaftab’s alleged confession. Probe officers acknowledged they are facing challenges as the woman was killed six months ago, and finding body parts in a dense jungle, not far from the couple’s rented residence in South Delhi’s Chhattapur Pahadi area, is not easy. On Tuesday, too, police teams visited the forest accompanied by Aaftab, as well as Walkar’s father and brother, to try and find the missing body parts. However, they recovered just one suspected body part, which too will be confirmed following a forensic examination. Aaftab is alleged to have chopped the body into over 30 parts and dumped it over two-three months.
Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP (South), said teams have over the past few days recovered suspected body pieces from the forest area and these are being sent to the forensic science lab in Delhi for DNA examination.
Sources said they have recovered 13 pieces, suspected to be bones from the limbs, from the forest. However, they are yet to recover the head, torso or any body part that could conclusively identify the woman, sources said.
Police are also yet to find the murder weapon – a small saw around 1 foot long – and the bloodstained clothes Aaftab allegedly wore at the time.
“He told us he bought a saw after he had strangled Walkar. He dumped it somewhere far and threw the bloodstained clothes in a garbage collection van,” said an officer.
“During his interrogation, he mentioned a few spots near the Shamshan Ghat and the dump yard where he dumped the main body pieces, but the team returned without much evidence on Tuesday. We have recovered a fridge he brought after the murder, which he used to store the 30-35 body parts,” said a source.
Aaftab is learnt to have told the police that he took at least 25-30 trips to the forest to discard the pieces and the polybags separately. The woman’s phone was also dumped outside Delhi.
A senior police officer said, “It has been six months since the murder. He can be misleading us about the spots. We are, however, doing everything we can to recover the pieces. The team has already found some evidence. We are waiting for lab reports. One of the major challenges is the time gap and area of the forest. The Mehrauli jungle and other neighbouring fields and forest areas are dense and huge. The flesh of any human/animal could get decomposed or be eaten by another animal. We have clues about murder weapon and will recover it.”
The Delhi Police also plan to contact and question the couple’s friends, including those who helped them get the rented accommodation. The probe will now be headed by a Joint Commissioner of Police level officer and will be monitored by the DCP and Additional DCP.
“There is suspicion that he could be trying to mislead the investigators about missing body parts. His custody might be extended for further investigation,” said an officer.