Shraddha Murder Case Updates: The polygraph test of accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala who allegedly killed his 27-year-old live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and dismembered her body, could not be conducted today on account of the accused being down with fever. Citing the reason for the cancellation, the Delhi Police said, Aaftab is medically unfit to undergo the polygraph test due to his fever.
The investigators have also found more evidence, including blood stains in the Chharapur flat that Shraddha and Aaftab shared.
The Delhi Police took Aaftab to the Delhi Rohini area for the test on Tuesday evening where the proceedings of the polygraph test began with pre-med and scientific sessions. After the polygraph, the police are likely to go ahead with Aaftab’s narco analysis, which was permitted by the court last week.
Earlier in the day, Poonawala told a Delhi court, which extended his police remand by four days, that he acted in the “heat of the moment” and that it was not “deliberate”, according to Abinash Kumar, the lawyer representing the accused. Kumar later said after speaking to Poonawala that he “never confessed in the court that he killed Walkar”.
Here are the latest developments in the Shraddha Walker Murder Case:
Polygraph test will continue only after Aaftab gets well: The polygraph test on Mehrauli murder accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala could not be conducted on Wednesday since he is down with fever and cold, police said as a 2020 complaint surfaced in which victim Shraddha Walkar alleged her partner tried to kill her and she feared he would cut her into pieces.
The delay in completion of the polygraph test also means that the narco test on Poonawala, cannot be conducted on Thursday.
A senior official at Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Rohini said that investigators informed them that Poonawala is down with fever and cold and so he could be brought for the polygraph test. The test will continue only after he gets well, the official added.
Poonawala could not take the polygraph test today due to being unwell: The polygraph test of accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala could not be conducted today on account of the accused being down with fever. Citing the reason for the cancellation, the Delhi Police said, Aaftab is medically unfit to undergo the polygraph test due to his fever.
Why was Walkar’s case closed even after she wrote a letter to the cops?: DCP of Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) Commissionerate, Suhas Bavache said that Shraddha in her written statement had stated that “the dispute between herself and Aaftab Poonawala was resolved.”
“Whatever necessary action had to be taken in that matter was done by police at that time. The application that was given by the complainant was also investigated. After the investigation, the complainant herself gave a written statement that there is no dispute. Her friend’s parents also cajoled her to resolve the dispute. She gave the written statement and after that the case was closed,” Bavache told ANI.
The reason is that the confession recorded during police remand does not hold merit in a court of law and any such confession during production for remand, unless made during the trial of the case, does not stand valid either.
A Look at Tales of Horror After Shraddha Walker Murder: The sordid details of murders that have surfaced recently in the country draw parallels with the gruesome killing of 27-year-old Shraddha Walker in Delhi earlier this month. Whether it is the suspected case of honour killing in Badarpur where the father allegedly killed his daughter and dumped her body in a suitcase on the Yamuna Expressway or the dismembering of the body of an ex-Navy officer by his wife and son, the tales of horror point at the savage mind of the criminal. READ MORE
‘Maybe she could have been saved if action was taken’ says Devendra Fadnavis: Talking to ANI in connection to the Shraddha Walkar case, Maha Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said there is a need to investigate why no action was taken with regards to her letter to the police.
“I saw the letter (Shraddha’s complaint to Police in 2020) & it has very serious allegations. We will have to investigate why was no action taken. I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything but if action is not taken on such a letter, such incidents happen. It will be investigated. Maybe she could have been saved had action been taken,” he said.
Preparations to conduct lie detector test on Aftab complete: Sources at FLS lab in Rohini told CNN News18 that forensic experts are awaiting intimation from police to start the Poonawala’s polygraph test. “Soon as Aaftab will be brought here, the polygraph will start. A team of experts will question Aaftab on the line of where he disposed of the weapon and body, as police have asked,” they said.
Once the Polygraph is complete, Narco can be conducted either the same day or the next day, they added.
Accused Poonawala Likely to Undergo Narco Analysis on Thursday: Narco test on Poonawala is likely to be conducted on Thursday, sources said. The 28-year-old will, however, have to undergo a set of tests to ascertain his emotional, mental, physiological and psychological well-being. The narco analysis cannot be conducted if he is found to be “disturbed” in the preliminary tests.
The narco analysis involves administering the individual medication which reduces their self-consciousness and allows them to speak freely.
‘He’ll Cut me in Pieces’: Shraddha Allegedly Wrote to Cops Against Aftab in 2020: A 2020 complaint letter– being claimed to be of Shraddha Walkar to the cops– has surfaced where she flagged Aaftab’s threat to her that he was scaring her that he will “cut her in pieces”.
The purported complaint letter from two years ago to the police in their hometown Vasai in Maharashtra, stated: “Today he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scares me and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away. It’s been six months he has been hitting me but I did not have the guts to go to the police because he would threaten to kill me”.
Walkar’s letter also claimed that Poonawala’s parents knew about them living together and they visited them on weekends.
“I lived with him till date as we were supposed to get married anytime soon and had the blessing of his family. Henceforth, I am not willing to live with him so any kind of physical damage should be considered coming from him as he has been blackmailing me to kill me or hurt me whenever he sees me anywhere,” she stated in the letter.
The police are now verifying this complaint and any action taken by the Vasai cops.
Experts say electric cutter, saw-teeth knife used in crimes Where body chopped: Forensic experts and lawyers who have dealt with cases where the victims were chopped into several pieces suspect the use of a big saw-teeth knife by Aaftab to cut Shraddha’s body.
In Walker’s case, the Delhi Police hasn’t been able to recover the weapon(s) yet. However, some media reports suggested the use of a large chopper or a saw-like knife in the crime.
The experts say that the weapons used in such cases in the past were either electric cutters or a saw-teeth knife of a minimum size of 18 to 20 inches.
Questionnaire prepared for Aaftab’s Narco Test: Sources told news agency PTI that a questionnaire has been prepared for the polygraph test so that the sequence of events in the gruesome killing can be ascertained.
Police hoping to locate more evidence after polygraph: Police have not found Walkar’s severed head and other body parts and are hoping to find clues to recover key evidence, including the murder weapon, that could firm up their case.
Aaftab said he disposed of the murder weapon in Gurgaon forest: Sources said that during the police questioning, the accused told investigators that he dumped the weapon and tools, used to chop Walkar’s body into 35 pieces, at the DLF Phase III forest area in Gurgaon after May.
Aaftab’s polygraph test may take 2-3 days: A senior FSL official said that the process of the polygraph test is time taking and it may go on for a day or even two, depending upon how it proceeds. “We have initiated the process for conducting the polygraph test. A questionnaire is also set and will be asked. The duration of the test also depends on how many breaks are taken during the procedure,” he added.
Poonawala’s police remand extended: At the end of his five-day police custody, Poonawala was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla, who extended his custody by four more days. Police sought extension of his custody on the grounds that more body parts and weapons can be recovered based on disclosures made by him.
Police recover Poonawala’s rough site plan used to dispose of Walkar’s body: Police informed the court that a rough site plan has been found at the house of the accused which may assist in the search and custodial interrogation, adding the accused will also be required to connect the chain of events in the crime.
Aaftab says he killed Shraddha in ‘heat of the moment’: “Do you know what you have done?” the judge asked Poonawala, said his legal aid counsel Abinash Kumar, narrating the proceedings. “And he said everything happened in the heat of the moment, and it was not deliberate,” the defence counsel told PTI.
Poonawala appeared confident after extension of his remand: The defence counsel said that he spoke to Poonawala for “five-seven minutes today”.
“When I spoke to him in the morning, he appeared relaxed and was very confident. He did not show any signs of aggressiveness,” he said. The lawyer said when he asked Poonawala if he is able to follow the legal proceedings in the case and if he was satisfied with the defence, he replied in the affirmative. “He has never confessed in the court of law that he killed Walkar,” Kumar told PTI.
Police find blood stains in Poonawala’s bathroom: According to police sources, important clues have been found from the bathroom tiles of Poonawala’s flat here after a forensic team broke the bathroom tiles and found blood stains on them. The recovered tiles have been sent for DNA examination to ascertain whether those blood stains are of Walkar and the report is expected within two weeks.
Police hoping to conduct Poonawala’s narco analysis in four days: “We will try to conduct the narco and polygraph tests within four days. Multiple agencies have been working on the case and we will file a collective report in the court. The charge sheet will be filed on the basis of forensic evidence,” said a senior official.
“We have to join the dots on the evidence collected so far. We cannot conclude the investigation based on the confession by the accused,” they added.
Delhi HC dismisses plea to transfer probe to CBI: Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed with costs a PIL that sought directions to transfer the Walkar murder investigation from Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), terming it a ‘publicity interest litigation’.
How Poonawala Killed Shraddha Walkar: Twenty-eight-year-old Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight. The murder occurred in May.
(With PTI inputs)
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment