COPS TAKE AAFTAB TO GURUGRAM, HUMAN BONE FRAGMENTS FOUND
NEW DELHI: The police team investigating the Shraddha Walkar case recovered some bones from a forested area in Gurugram to which they were led by her boyfriend Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who has been arrested for allegedly killing her, widening the search operation beyond Delhi and asserting their claims made before a Delhi court on Thursday that he was “misleading” and “not cooperating” during interrogation.
The team scanned the forest and found some bones were lying under bushes. A forensic expert assisted the team in collecting the bones, an official investigating the case said on condition of anonymity.
NEW DELHI: With people – both online and offline — demanding the capital punishment for Aaftab Poonawala, taking out protest marches in Delhi and Maharashtra, and in light of a ruckus created by a group of lawyers at the Saket court where Poonawala was going to be produced on Thursday, the Delhi Police are taking extra precautions to keep him safe.
Poonawala, who was arrested on November 12, allegedly strangled his partner Shraddha Walkar to death, and then dismembered her body at their Chhattarpur Pahadi flat. He dumped the body parts over three months at various forested areas of Delhi, police have said. According to police officers aware of the case, Poonawala is being kept at different police stations and other locations in south Delhi. They said extra safety measures are being taken when he is taken out on the streets or to forested areas to assist investigating teams in recovering parts of Walkar’s dismembered body, the weapon that he allegedly used, her belongings and other evidence related to the crime.
At night, some policemen are deployed outside his lock-up with directions to remain vigilant and keep a watch on his activities, the officers said. On Thursday, police moved an application before a Delhi court and sought permission to produce Poonawala through video conferencing. In their submission, the police
While arguments were in progress on the police’s application for virtual production, scores of lawyers outside the court room in Saket started sloganeering, seeking the death penalty for Poonawala. Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the judge agreed to the police’s submission and held the hearings virtually.
A police officer, who asked not to be named, said that intelligence inputs were shared with the police that Poonawala may be attacked by a mob or some fringe groups as part of their communal propaganda. Following this, police personnel were added to the group that accompanied Poonawala and the investigating team during the search operation, and other legal procedures such as his medical check-ups in the government hospital. Poonawala was arrested on November 12 by the team of the Mehrauli police station, and on Monday, information regarding his arrest came to light.
But on Tuesday, when the case gained a lot of traction and people started expressing their anger against the couple, Poonawala in particular, on social media, the police became vigilant. The main gate of the Mehrauli police station was closed, and restrictions on the entry of media persons were imposed. To keep him safe, Poonawala was shifted to Malviya Nagar police station on Wednesday evening after taking him to Chhatarpur and other places in south Delhi for the search operation. On Thursday evening, he was kept at an unknown location in Chhattarpur and was brought back to the Mehrauli police station in the night.
On Friday, the officers shifted Poonawala to a safe location in Gurugram after media persons and some others gathered outside the forest. “After the ruckus in the court on Thursday and in view of demands to hang him being raised on the social media as well as at a march that was taken out in Delhi and similar events being conducted in Maharashtra, we are taking extra precautions,” an officer said.