Suspect’s water bill cover-up clue: Cops

NEW DELHI: An outstanding water bill has emerged as a key lead in the grisly Chhattarpur murder case, with police saying on Wednesday that it could help corroborate prime accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala’s statement that he kept the water running while hacking his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar’s body and to clean bloodstains after the act, marking a new turn in a horrific crime that has shocked the country.

The water bill of ₹300 — described as unusual for a single tenant by the caretaker of Poonawala’s first-floor flat in a complex where most residents keep within Delhi government’s free water consumption limit — is a crucial part of the puzzle because it may help link circumstantial evidence amid confessional statements that are inadmissible unless backed by corroborative proof.

Rajendra Kumar — the caretaker of Poonawala’s first-floor flat that the couple rented on May 15, three days before he allegedly killed his 27-year-old partner — said the 28-year-old man’s water bill remained unpaid. Kumar said the bill was unusual because other tenants who were already living on the ground and second floor of the three-storey building never paid water bills before, and the total consumption of the household was always below the 20,000

litre limit for free water, as mandated by the Delhi government. It is unclear whether the whole building had a single connection or individual water meters for each of the three flats. The bill amounting to ₹300 means that an 18,000 litres of water was used.

We found out that there was a pending bill of ₹300 against water charges that Poonawala had to pay. After going through media reports that Poonawala chopped his girlfriend’s body in the bathroom, we suspect he may have used excess water all these months to clean the blood,” said Kumar.

A police officer associated with the probe said on condition of anonymity that investigators were aware of the anomaly, and were looking into the possibility that Poonawala used excess water to clean his flat after the crime.

“Since Poonawala disclosed that he kept the water tap in bathroom on while hacking Walkar’s body, we will probe this excess water use angle and also examine the water bills cycle to ascertain of in which months the water consumption of the flat was high,” said the officer, requesting anonymity. The gruesome murder was unearthed on Monday after Poonawala ostensibly told the police that he murdered Walkar six months ago, chopped her body into at least 35 pieces for over two days, stored them in a refrigerator for about three months, and dumped the body parts piece by piece in different parts of south Delhi.

On Wednesday, he told police that he murdered Walkar at around 8-9pm on May 18 after a fight over finances, said an investigator in the case, requesting anonymity.

The couple were having problems in their relationship during their stay in Maharashtra — they were both from Vasai and moved to Delhi this summer, stayed with a friend in the vicinity before moving to the Chhattarpur flat — and hence decided to take a break and travel to north India, added the investigator cited above.

“On the day of the murder, the couple fought over expenses in bringing their belongings from Maharashtra to Delhi. Before the murder, they shifted to the flat just three days ago. Initially, he said that the main reason for the murder was a tiff over Walkar’s suspicion that he was seeing another woman. This is why they wanted to shift base,” the officer said.

The crime and macabre cover-up has shocked the Capital but the investigation is still in its nascent stages. Police have recovered 13 bone fragments from a forest in Chhattarpur and traces of bloodstains from the flat, but have not yet found the murder weapon. All eyes are on the forensic analysis of the remains found in the forest to conclusively prove they belonged to Walkar.

This is important because in a murder investigation, the murder weapon and the body hold the highest evidentiary value and confessional statements are inadmissible in court.

Police say that, in his disclosure statement, Poonawala said he kept the water tap on in the bathroom while chopping Walkar’s body over two days after strangling her in the bedroom. After storing the body parts in a refrigerator — which he purchased from a local market along with the hacksaw a day after strangling Walkar — Poonawala confessed to cleaning the bathroom and the flat with water and chemicals, police added.

“As the disposal of the body parts continued for three months, Poonawala cleaned the house with water and acid after every visit to forested areas nearby Chhattarpur, where he threw the body parts piece by piece at regular intervals. He also cleaned the refrigerator, weapons of the offence, clothes and other items,” an investigator said.

Kumar — who is the brother of the flat-owner Satish Kumar — said Poonawala transferred ₹9,000 as rent into his son Rohan’s account between the 8th and 10th of every month. “Since consumption of electricity and water was within the free limits, he never paid those bills. However, we found out that there was a pending bill of ₹300 against water charges that Poonawala had to pay,” he added.

Kumar said that a groundfloor flat was occupied by a cab driver who lived alone and the second floor by a family with 3-4 members.

“The cab driver leaves home in the morning and returns home late at night. The family on the second floor also consumed limited water. The water bills have been zero in the past several months. The excess water consumption bill came only after Poonawala and his girlfriend started living on the first floor. Now that it’s confirmed that Walkar was killed just three days after she moved in, Poonawala couldn’t have crossed the free limit had he just used water for daily use. We have now learnt that he was not even cooking at home and surviving on food ordered online,” added Kumar.

Neighbours said they often spotted Poonawala climbing up to the terrace to check the water tank.

“We often spotted him going to the terrace to check the water level. We did not find it unusual then,” said a resident, requesting anonymity.