Aaftab ‘falls ill’, polygraph test delayed, say police
NEW DELHI: Aaftab Poonawala, who is accused of killing his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into 35 pieces, could not be taken to complete his polygraph test on Wednesday after he reportedly “complained of a fever”, said police forensic officers involved in the investigation.
Officials at Delhi’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) said they hoped to complete the polygraph test on Wednesday, to pave the way for his narcoanalysis. The procedure for Poonawala’s polygraph test was started on Tuesday evening.
“The investigating officer said Poonawala complained of a fever, so he was not brought to the laboratory. After the polygraph test, the narco analysis will be conducted at a city hospital,” said an official of the Rohini FSL who asked not to be named.
Doctors will also conduct a detailed medical examination on Poonawala before giving a go-ahead for the narco analysis.
Poonawala (28) allegedly murdered his Walkar (27) in their Chhattarpur Pahadi flat on May 18, dismembered her corpse over the next two days and then scattered the parts across south Delhi and Gurugram, according to his police statement.
The two allegedly moved into the two-room flat on May 15.
The murder came to light only in October, when Walkar’s father filed a missing complaint and informed the Mumbai Police. As part of the probe, Poonawala was questioned by Delhi and Mumbai police.
He was arrested on November 12. However, other than his confession and circumstantial clues, the police has not made public any major pieces of evidence that investigators may have recovered.
Investigators involved in the case said that the narco analysis and polygraph tests, though inadmissible in court, are key as officers attempt to piece together reportedly disparate statements from the suspect who, the police say,” has not cooperated in the probe so far.
Delhi Police officers have earlier said that Poonawala has given “conflicting reports” of the stores where he bought the weapon to dismember the woman’s body and the spots he allegedly disposed of the body parts. His counsel, however, said Poonawala told a court on Tuesday that he was new to the city and not very familiar with the spots he was being taken by investigators.
Explaining the process of polygraph test, the FSL official quoted above said that police have “shared their requirements”, Poonawala’s profile and other details.