They met on the dating app Bumble in 2019, began a relationship, moved in together, and now she’s dead. Aftab Amin Poonawala (28), a food vlogger, allegedly killed his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar (27), in May this year, cut up her body into 35 pieces, stored it in a fridge and then dumped it in Delhi’s Mehrauli jungle over several days. The crime came to light six months later when Shraddha’s father, Vikash Madan Walker, a resident of Maharashtra’s Palghar, lodged a missing person complaint with the Mumbai Police. As the last location of Shraddha’s mobile was found in the National Capital, the case was transferred to the Delhi Police. During the investigation, the spine-chilling crime was unravelled, along with its grisly details. The Delhi Police is now considering writing to Bumble to seek details of Aftab’s profile, ANI reported citing sources. How is Bumble involved in this gruesome murder? What details have emerged from the case so far? Let’s take a closer look. The role of Bumble According to reports, Aftab not only met Shraddha through Bumble years ago but he also got in touch with another woman through the dating site allegedly after committing the crime. The police sources have told Indian Express that Aftab brought a woman, who is a psychologist, to his rented flat in south Delhi’s Mehrauli while Shraddha’s body parts were still stuffed in the fridge that he had bought after allegedly killing her. [caption id=“attachment_11637591” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shraddha Walkar was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala in May. PTI[/caption] “The other woman came to his house a couple of times in June-July. He hid Walkar’s body parts in the fridge and kitchen,” the sources said as per Indian Express. The investigators also divulged that Aftab began discarding the body parts and carried on with his life. ANI reported that the accused told the police during the investigation that he used to dispose of the body pieces at 2 am as there was little movement of people at this hour. After the murder, he got a job at another call centre in Gurgaon and also re-installed Bumble, reports Indian Express. Now, the Delhi Police is likely to contact the dating site which is headquartered in Texas, USA. As per PTI, the investigators want to ascertain whether Aftab had brought more women home and if they have any connection to the murder. “Delhi Police may write to Bumble to get details of Aftab’s profile to find details of women who visited him in his house when Shraddha’s body was still in the refrigerator. Police are looking at the possibility if any of these women could be a reason behind this killing,” the police sources told ANI. Notably, both Shraddha and Aftab lived in Vasai near Mumbai and had started living together after facing opposition from their families regarding their relationship. In May this year, they shifted to a rented flat at Chhatarpur in the Mehrauli area and Shraddha was killed on the 18th of the same month. ALSO READ:
‘He used to emotionally blackmail, beat her’: Inside Aftab Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar’s toxic relationship
Bumble in India Bumble entered the Indian market in 2018 and had also roped in investment from Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra at that time. The founder of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, said that revenue in India has “doubled year over year”. “India remains a notable highlight and revenue in India more than doubled year over year,” Herd, who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of the dating app, said in a statement. The US-based app Bumble, Badoo and Fruitz’s parent Bumble Inc has reported revenue of $232.6 million for the July to September 2022 quarter. [caption id=“attachment_11637631” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]
Bumble was launched in 2018 in India. Nedws18 Hindi (Representational Image)[/caption] The company has indicated a more than 200 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in revenues in the third quarter of 2022 in India, reports Inc42. However, the exact revenue figure has not been disclosed. Moreover, Bumble Inc’s revenue has increased by 17 per cent globally, Inc42 reported. ALSO READ:
Explained: How the Shraddha Walkar murder reminds us of Anupama Gulati, who was cut up by her husband into 72 pieces
The Delhi murder case so far The Delhi Police have revealed gruesome details in the killing of Shraddha Walkar. They have claimed Aftab has confessed to the murder and said they have recovered over 10 body parts from the Mehrauli jungle, suspected to be human remains. Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP (South), told Indian Express, “We have recovered suspected body parts from the forest. Our priority is to recover the body parts and get confirmation from forensic reports. The accused is in police custody.” Details have emerged that, after the murder, Aftab used Shraddha’s Instagram account to chat with her friends to make them believe she is alive. He also reportedly paid her credit card bills so bank officials would not visit her Mumbai address, reports NDTV. Shraddha’s father said he had last talked to her in 2021 as they had a strained relationship because of her dating Aftab. “We last spoke over the phone in 2021. I don’t even remember the conversation now, but she was not happy. She was upset because I didn’t accept them. We don’t have such inter-religion or inter-caste relationships in our family. I had told her not to leave Mumbai,” he told Indian Express. A friend of Shraddha told her family that there was no contact with her for the past two-and-a-half months and her phone was also switched off, as per ANI. NDTV reported that Aftab was first called for questioning on 26 October after Shraddha’s father went to the police in Vasai. He told the police there that Shraddha had left their rented apartment in Delhi after an argument on 22 May and he had not been “in touch” with her since then. It was later discovered that he had already allegedly killed her four days before – 18 May. Her friends have also spoken about the “toxic and abusive” relationship the couple were in and said Aftab had assaulted Shraddha on multiple occasions earlier. With inputs from agencies Read all the
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