 "Severed head to murder weapon: What the police need to nail Aftab Poonawala in the Shraddha Walkar murder")
It is a murder most gruesome. Days after the arrest of Aftab Amin Poonawala, who killed his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, and chopped her body into 36 parts, the case continues to unravel. Shocking and gory details emerge as police from Delhi Police pieces evidence together.
The 28-year-old alleged killer has reportedly confessed to his crime, revealing how he strangled Sharddha, cut up her body in the bathroom of their rented house, stored parts in a refrigerator for months and then scattered them in the Mehrauli forest in Delhi. But even as Aftab admits to the crime, the task before the investigators is an uphill one.
The case, as of now, largely depends on the information shared by Aftab. The crime, which has grabbed the nation’s attention today, was committed on 18 May. The police are facing several challenges as six months have gone by since the murder.
Finding body parts
The biggest hurdle is to find the woman’s body parts, which are scattered in the dense jungle not far from South Delhi’s Chhattapur Pahadi area, where Aftab and Shraddha lived on rent.
The teams of police have been searching the forested area day after day to find the body parts. It has been a difficult search as Aftab claimed that he did not remember where he dumped them. On Tuesday, the police visited the Mehrauli forest with Atab and Shraddha’s father and brother.
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View AllAround ten bags with parts of the body have been found, these include bones from the limbs. However, a forensic examination will confirm if they belong to the victim. This will take around 15 days.
Shraddha’s severed head, which Aftab allegedly kept in the new fridge purchased a day after the murder, is yet to be found. He reportedly kept the head for days and would often look at it to keep memories of the relationship alive, media reports suggest. He told the cops that the head was the last body part he disposed of.
The head and torso would help in conclusively identifying the victim, according to a report in The Indian Express.
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Aftab has also reportedly confessed that on the second day of the murder, he removed Shraddha’s intestines and other internal organs as they had started to decompose. “This was done to avoid foul smell emanating from the house as that would have raised neighbours’ suspicion. He put the parts in a plastic bag and threw them in garbage dumps,” sources told News18. The investigators believe that most of them were either eaten up by stray animals or decomposed completely.
The murder weapon
The police are yet to find the murder weapon. Aftab, a trained chef, reportedly used a one-foot saw to chop the body.
The accused reportedly told the police that he purchased the saw after he strangled Shraddha to death. While the couple often quarrelled over marriage – the woman pressured Aftab to tie the knot – they fought on 18 May over the shifting of household items and the expenses over it.
In a fit of rage, Aftab, who would often abuse and beat up his partner, strangled her. He then used the saw to chop her body into pieces. Now, as the alleged killer reveals more details of the crime, he has told the police he does not remember where he dumped the weapon.
The saw is a crucial piece of evidence to prove the crime. However, it is unlikely that the Delhi police will find fingerprints or blood stains on it that are needed to conclude that it was used in the crime because time has gone by, according to a report by India Today.
The clothes
The clothes worn by Aftab and Shraddha on the day of the murder are yet to be recovered. He has reportedly told the police that he dumped the blood-stained clothes in a garbage collection van.
It is going to be near-impossible to trace these clothes which were thrown away after the murder was committed.
The mobile phone
The police are yet to retrieve Shraddha’s mobile phone. Some reports suggest that Atab dumped the phone somewhere on the outskirts of Delhi.
He operated her bank account using the app on her phone to transfer Rs 54,000 to himself. The money was later used to purchase the refrigerator in which he kept Shraddha’s body, Delhi police sources told The Times of India.
Aftab also reportedly used Shraddha’s Instagram account to keep in touch with her friends in an attempt to cover his tracks.
However, after the woman’s phone remained switched off for more than two months they got in touch with her family.
Time of death
While Aftab has said that he murdered Shraddha on 18 May, all that he says cannot be completely believed. Police will need to prove when and what time the killing took place.
The victim’s dismembered body parts might be crucial to help corroborate the time of death, reports India Today.
With inputs from agencies
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