Shraddha Walkar Murder: All that we know about Aftab Poonawala and the case so far

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday reached national capital’s Mehrauli police station in order to examine the refrigerator and other evidence in the gruesome murder of Shraddha Walkar. As the investigation continues, shocking details are coming in the light. Top developments in the case:

• Today, the Delhi police took the accused Aftab Poonawalla to the forest area where he allegedly scattered the body parts of the 26-year-old. The search operation reportedly went on for at least three hours. Over 12 body parts have been found and the head is yet to be recovered, the sources said.
• Aftab and Shraddha met on the dating app, ‘Bumble’, while both were living in Mumbai. The police may soon seek details of Aftab’s profile. This comes in order to find out whether the 28-year-old brought more women at home after killing Shraddha and whether any of them triggered him for the murder.
• According to PTI, the accused had visited the housing society in Maharashtra’s Vasai a fortnight ago to help his family members shift to Mumbai. The housing society’s secretary Abdullah Khan said, “Around 15 days ago, they vacated the flat and rented it out. They shifted somewhere near Mumbai. Aftab told me that he was staying in Delhi.”
• The victim’s father, Vikas Walkar, has demanded the death penalty for the accused, while a ‘love jihad’ angle is suspected.
• The two quarrelled frequently as Shraddha insisted on marriage. However, when the fight escalated on May 18, Aftab allegedly sat on her chest and strangled her. He also told the police that he used ‘sulphur hypochlorite’ to clean the blood after chopping her body.
• The Delhi police are currently investigating if the decision to rent the flat in the national capital was part of a conspiracy to murder Shraddha. The police also visited the shop where he claimed to have bought the tools to cut Shraddha’s body. He claimed that he bought the knife and garbage bags used in the crime from the shop.
• Sources further said, Aftab, who was a trained chef, used to sleep every day in the same room where he had chopped the body after killing Shraddha. He used to see the face after keeping it in the fridge. Aftab had cleaned the fridge after disposing of the body parts.
• Aftab reportedly met women on Bumble and caller them to his house in Mehrauli for date at the time Shraddha’s chopped body parts were hidden in the 300-litre refrigerator which he had purchased specially for the purpose.
• Sources said Aftab had relations with many girls even before Shraddha. Before committing the crime, he also watched many crime movies and web series, including the American crime drama series Dexter.
• Shraddha Walkar told her parents ‘forget I am your daughter’ when she walked out to live with Aftab. The deceased’s father wrote in the FIR, “Despite incurring our displeasure, our daughter (Shraddha) said to us: ‘I’m 25-years-old now and I have all the right to take my decisions. I have to live with Aftab Ameen Poonawalala in a live-in relationship. From today, forget that I am your daughter’…She just took her clothes and left to live with Aftab Ameen Poonawala.”

The gruesome murder case comes to light after six months Aftab was arrested on Saturday by Delhi Police for allegedly strangling his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar. He sawed her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for 18 days at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before scattering them in a forest late at night, the police said on Monday. The duo were in a relationship since 2019 and moved to Delhi from Mumbai in April-end or May first week this year. In September, the victim’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, the victim’s father Vikash Madan Walker, a resident of Palghar (Maharashtra), approached Mumbai police and lodged a missing person’s complaint. During the initial investigation, the victim’s last location was found in Delhi, and on the basis of this, the case was transferred to Delhi police.