Delhi murder case: Aaftab burnt Shraddha’s face to hide identity

The police have now started to scan old cases where unidentified body parts have been found across the national capital in recent times.
Police personnel along with accused Aaftab Ameen Poonawala pose for the media, at Mehrauli Police Station, in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)
Police personnel along with accused Aaftab Ameen Poonawala pose for the media, at Mehrauli Police Station, in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI: In yet another revelation, Shraddha Walkar murder case accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala has now revealed that he burnt the victim’s face, after killing her, just to hide her identity. The accused first strangled Shraddha, sliced her in 35 pieces and then before disposing of her head, burnt her face so that her identity could not be revealed even if her skull was found. Sources privy to the probe said after killing his live-in partner, Aftab googled and read about the ways of disposing of a body.

To hide the crime, he first chopped the body in 35 pieces. He kept Shraddha’s body in the bathroom, under the shower, so that it decomposes a little bit and slicing it becomes easy.

“During the interrogation, it was revealed that he first disposed off the victim’s liver and intestines and the head at the last,” sources said. It took accused Poonawala 18 days, starting from May 18 when he killed his partner, to gradually dispose of all the body parts in the forest area of south Delhi.

The police have now started to scan old cases where unidentified body parts have been found across the national capital in recent times. Interestingly, the police have come across a similar case when on June 5, just 17 days after the murder of Shraddha Walkar, the east district police had recovered severed body parts -- two legs cut into four pieces, head and hands — of an unidentified person in a period of three days.

The body parts were found when the police personnel patrolling in the area noticed a foul smell coming from near the bushes in the Ramlila grounds, in front of 20 Block, Kalyanpuri in the area of Pandav Nagar police station. The police registered a murder case, however, till now, the body remains unidentified.

The south district police have now contacted the east district police sensing a possibility that the accused might have dumped the body parts there. Sources said the body parts found at Ramlila ground have been sent for DNA sampling and a report is pending. Meanwhile, a local court extended Aftab’s police custody by five more days and allowed the police application to seek permission for the Narco analysis test.

Kept body in bathroom
Sources said after killing, Aaftab googled ways of disposing of a body. To hide the crime, he first chopped the body into 35 pieces. He kept her body in the bathroom, under the shower for it to decompose faster.

How it all happened

  • May 8: Aaftab Amin Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar reached Delhi and stayed in Paharganj for few days
  • May 15: The couple shifted to a rented apartment in Mehrauli area of south Delhi
  • May 18: Aaftab strangled Shraddha after an argument that turned violent
  • May 19: Aaftab brought a new freezer and a knife to chop her body
  • May 20: Aaftab paid a visit to a doctor who lives near his house with a superficial cut on his forearm and got 6 stiches
  • May 21: He chopped her body into 35 pieces and began gradually disposing of them day by day in the nearby forest
  • May 26: Aaftab operated the mobile banking app on Shraddha's phone to transfer J54,000
  • May 31: In a bid to prevent suspicions of Shraddha's absence, he used her Instagram account and replied to someone
  • November 8: Mumbai police contacted the Delhi Police regarding Shraddha’s disappearance
  • November 9: Delhi police lodged a missing report of Walkar
  • November 10: Delhi Police registered an FIR based on Shraddha Walkar's father Vikas Madan Walkar's complaint at Mehrauli police station
  • November 13: The Delhi Police arrested the accused

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