Shradha murder case: Delhi Police call common friend for questioning

New Delhi: Delhi Police has called for questioning a common friend of the killer Aftab and his victim Shraddha to ferret out more details in the ghastly murder that has rocked the national capital.

The police said that this is the same friend who had intimated Shraddha’s father about her going incommunicado.

Aftab broke down while the police grilled him and spoke only in English stating “Yes, I killed her.”

Police have also recovered some bones from Aftab’s rented flat and officials said that the efforts to recover the remaining parts of the body were on. The parts that have been recovered have been sent for forensic analysis and a DNA test will be carried out to confirm the identify the victim.

Police further disclosed that “Aftab had used a mini saw to chop off the body parts. The mini saw is yet to be recovered. Aftab broke down after they grilled him when he gave confusing timelines of when Shraddha left him.”

The police sources claimed that the accused used Shraddha’s Instagram account until June to give an impression of her being alive.

“Aftab dumped Shraddha’s phone, her last location is being traced so that it can be retrieved. Police are searching for the weapon used to chop her body into pieces,” the sources said.

The sources claimed that Aftab searched on Google for ways to chop the body. He put Shraddha’s and his blood-stained clothes in MCD’s garbage van.

Earlier today Aftab was taken to the spot in the jungle where he allegedly disposed of parts of Shraddha’s body.

Father of Shraddha Walkar on Tuesday demanded a death penalty for the accused while also suspecting a “love jihad” angle behind the incident.

Speaking to ANI, Shraddha’s father, Vikas Walkar said, “I suspected a love jihad angle. We demand the death penalty for Aftab. I trust Delhi Police and the probe moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn’t talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the first complaint in Mumbai’s Vasai.”

Delhi Police probe into the Shraddha Walkar murder case has revealed that the accused Aftab Poonawalla was a food blogger who used to work at a call centre in the national capital. The police are now investigating if he had rented a flat in Delhi’s Chhatarpur area as part of a conspiracy to kill the victim. The police investigation has also revealed that the couple had frequent fights.

According to police sources, before shifting to Delhi in 2022, the couple had come into a relationship in 2019. They stayed in Maharashtra for some time but used to visit various places as part of their travel plans.

Later, Aftab rented a flat in Chhatarpur in Delhi where he shifted with Shraddha. She was reportedly strangled to death on May 18 in the Chhatarpur flat.  The police have come to know that the room was taken on rent a few days before the murder.

“It is also a matter of investigation whether Aftab had already hatched a conspiracy to kill her,” the police sources said. Shradha had been pressuring Aftab to marry her.

The accused told the police during interrogation that he used to take the pieces of the dead body to the disposal at 2:00 am due to the little movement of people at this hour.

“It is learned that  Aftab used to take the pieces of the dead body kept in the fridge there for disposal. The accused used to carry the pieces of the carcass in a black foil but had thrown the pieces out of the foil in the forest, making it difficult to ascertain if the pieces were thrown or the remains were due to animal hunting,” the sources said.

The police have come to know that the accused Aftab has done his graduation and lived in Mumbai with his family.

Police said that Aftab, after searching on Google, cleaned blood stained from the floor with some chemicals and disposed of stained clothes. He shifted the body in the bathroom and bought a refrigerator from a nearby shop. Later, he chopped the body into small pieces and put them in the fridge.

Officials said that Shraddha Walker (27) from Mumbai, met the Aftab while working at a call centre in Mumbai.

They were in a live-in relationship for three years and had shifted to Delhi. Soon after the two shifted to Delhi, Shraddha started pressuring the man to marry her,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South Delhi Ankit Chauhan told ANI.

“The two quarrelled frequently and it used to get out of control. In this particular instance that occurred on May 18, the man lost his temper and strangled her,” said Chauhan.

“The accused told us that he chopped her into pieces and disposed of her parts in nearby areas in the jungle area of Chhatarpur Enclave. He has been arrested and an investigation is going on,” added DCP Chauhan.

In September, Shraddha’s friend informed her family that there was no contact with Shradhha for the last two and a half months and her mobile number was also switched off. Her family also checked her social media accounts and found no updates during this period.

In November, Shraddha’s father Vikash Madan Walker, a resident of Palghar (Maharashtra), approached Mumbai police and lodged a missing person complaint.

During the initial investigation, Shraddha’s last location was found in Delhi, and on the basis of this, the case was transferred to Delhi police.

“The accused has been arrested and a case under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) has been registered at Mehrauli police station,” officials said.