NEW DELHI: Aaftab Amin Poonawala, the accused in the gruesome murder case of a 27-year-old woman, underwent a Narco analysis test on Thursday at Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in the national capital during which he shared crucial information about the victim’s mobile phone and the weapons he had used to chop her body.
The 28-year-old is accused of murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, 27, a Mumbai-suburb resident, in a south Delhi flat, then slicing her body in several pieces, and ultimately disposing of them at different locations in the city.
Aftab, earlier in the day, reached the hospital at Rohini in north Delhi from Tihar Jail amidst tight security arrangements at 8.30 am and his test began at 10 am.
“The process of the Narco test was completed in nearly two hours and a detailed report will be soon shared with the Delhi Police,” a senior official from the Forensic Science Laboratory told the New Indian Express.
Narco analysis is one of the deception detection tests, involving the intravenous administration of a drug (such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine, and sodium amytal) that causes the person undergoing it to enter into various stages of anaesthesia.
As per sources, Aaftab was administered sodium pentothal after which he became less inhibited and divulged some “crucial information” about the case, including the weapons which he used to slice the body and the mobile phone of Walkar which he had dumped at some unknown location.
Earlier, a polygraph test was conducted on Aaftab for a period of five days during which he also confessed to murdering Walkar. Though his confession during the test cannot be used in court, yet, it proves that the investigators are proceeding in the right direction. Pertinent to mention here that the findings of both the polygraph and the Narco test are not admissible in the court. These tests will only help the Delhi Police to gather evidence, and thereby increase the possibility of prosecution of the guilty.
FSL sources further said that the accused, Aaftab, will most likely undergo a post-narco test again, tentatively on December 5. “In this post-narco test, the same questions which were asked of him during the narco test will be asked again, but this time without administering any drug. He will remain fully conscious and his answers will be analysed,” sources said.
‘Confession during test cannot be used in court’
Both the polygraph and the narco test are not admissible in court. These tests will only help the Delhi Police to gather evidence, and thereby increase the possibility of prosecution of the guilty. Earlier, a polygraph test was conducted on Aaftab for a period of five days during which he also confessed to murdering Walkar. Though his confession cannot be used in court, yet, it proves that the investigators are proceeding in the right direction.