Accused taken to forest, 10 body parts discovered
Team News Riveting
New Delhi, November 15
After brutally killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, Aaftab Amin Poonawala adopted several modus operandi to conceal the crime that included staying active on social media account and disposing her body parts over several days.
But it was only a matter of time as fate willed otherwise and the police came knocking at his door.
Even as his live-in partner’s body was in the fridge after he killed her, Aftab Poonawala allegedly got in touch with the other woman, a psychologist, on Bumble—the same dating app on which he had first come in contact with Shradda in 2019, sources said.
She was not the only woman to have visited the house as Shraddha’s body was in the fridge. Poonawala met several women on the dating app and had a physical relationship with them after killing Walkar. Some of his friends, food delivery persons, and many others visited the house.
The couple moved to the house in Mehrauli in May. On the 18th of that month, an argument broke out between them and Poonawala tried to shut her mouth with his hand. He later allegedly strangulated her, police said.
The next day, he purchased a saw and a 300-litre refrigerator, taking inspiration from American crime drama ‘Dexter’. On May 20, he sawed her body into 35 pieces and stored them in the fridge.
Poonawala had studied hotel management and worked as a chef a few years ago. He had undergone a two-week training on how to cut meat, which he used to chop Shradda’s body.
“He cut her body for two days,” sources said, adding that Poonawala packed the refrigerator’s deep freezer with the pieces and put the remaining ones in the bottom tray. After some time, he would take the frozen pieces out to deep freeze those kept in the tray.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police today took Aftab to the forest area, where he allegedly threw Shraddha’s body parts. The investigating team recreated the scene of crime. During the search operation that went on for three hours, police could discover at least 10 body parts.
The victim’s father, Vikas Walkar, on Tuesday demanded the capital punishment for 28-year-old Aftab Ameen Poonawala and suspected a “love jihad” angle behind the heinous incident.
