After narco test on Aaftab, police quiz him again in Tihar
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Friday said the narco analysis of Aaftab Poonawala, accused of murdering his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar, has been completed after a follow-up questioning was done at Tihar on Friday.
Poonawala, 28, allegedly killed Walkar, 27, at their flat in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur Pahadi on May 18, chopped her body into at least 35 pieces, and dumped the body parts in forested areas in and around the Capital. He was arrested on November 12 and has been lodged at Tihar jail since November 26.
On Thursday, Poonawala’s narco test was conducted at Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital in Rohini, during which he confessed to committing the murder “in a fit of rage” and chopping up her body. In a polygraph test conducted at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) offices on Wednesday, Poonawala had confessed to the murder.
However, Poonawala’s test on Friday was conducted at Tihar jail, in light of the risk involved in his transportation – earlier this week, vigilantes from a fringe right wing group attempted to attack Poonawala while he was being escorted to jail.
Tihar prison officials said on Friday, a four-member FSL team reached the jail along with the investigation officer at around 11.30am. The post narco-test lasted for nearly two hours at the jail’s hospital.
His response to questions about the crime were similar to those he had given during the polygraph test and the disclosures he made before the police during custodial interrogation, police officers and FSL officials aware of the development said.
“The post-narco test session is part of the narco test. During this session, the same set of questions that were asked from the subject during the main narco session while he was in a hypotonic stage are repeated to see if the answers are the same,” said an FSL official.
“There were less discrepancies in his disclosures and the answers he gave during the two scientific tests, which means that by and large, his confessions before the police were correct. The data related to the polygraph and narco tests are being analysed by the FSL experts. Once their analysis is over, the results will be shared with the investigating team,” a police officer privy to the updates in the case said.
To be sure, the findings of the polygraph and narco tests are inadmissible in court, but investigators hope they will help them collect concrete proof to build a watertight case against him. Poonawala has also made similar admissions to the police, but his statements are inadmissible in court. Poonawala had on November 22 also told a Delhi court that “whatever happened, took place in the heat of the moment”. However, his statement was not recorded as he was produced in the court by the police for extension of his police custody and not for recording his statement. The only confession that stands the legal test is a statement recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
During his narco test on Thursday, Poonawala had given some vague descriptions regarding the places where he had dumped Walkar’s head, the weapon, and her belongings. However, the details were not as specific as investigators were expecting, said another police officer, who did not want to be identified.
“The investigators will carry out fresh searches in the areas identified by Poonawala during his polygraph and narco tests,” the second officer added.