SAW FOUND AT FLAT
developments said Poonawala told police that he strangled his partner, Shraddha Walkar, in a fit of rage on the evening of May 18 after a fight over their moving to Delhi from Maharashtra. No public statement has been made so far by the accused, who is in custody.
The gruesome murder was unearthed on Monday after Poonawala ostensibly told the police that he murdered Shraddha 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. Police later said that the couple fought over finances on May 18 — three days after they moved into the flat in Chhattarpur. But other than his confession and a series of circumstantial clues, the police investigation has not thrown up major pieces of evidence. Investigators recovered 13 bone fragments from nearby forests and found some bloodstains in the flat but are yet to conclusively prove that they belong to Walkar, 27.
This is why the recovery of the saw may become important, said the officer quoted above. If forensic examination proves that this is indeed the weapon used to hack Walkar’s body, it will be the first real piece of evidence in the case. Any murder investigation stands on two prongs — the recovery of the murder weapon and the body — because confessions made to police are not admissible in a court of law unless backed by corroborative evidence.
“Forensic experts will examine the saw and match it with blood samples recovered at the scene or from other places,” the officer said, requesting anonymity. If the blood is proved to be Walkar’s and matches any traces on the suspected weapon, it will prove that the saw was used to kill the woman. HT was the first to report on Wednesday that police said traces of bloodstains were found near the kitchen sink.
The officer also said that Poonawala mentioned in his confession that he used more than one weapon to dismember Walkar’s body, and investigators are on the lookout for any more recoveries.
To be sure, at this stage, the recovery of the saw is not conclusively linked to the murder and the saw could have been present at the house for innocuous, domestic reasons. But the officer said investigators looked into this aspect, and found no plausible reason for Poonawala to keep a saw in the house. “There was no carpentry or paint job in the house and almost no one visited him at the house. Poonawala never cooked in the flat or hired a help for household work,” the officer added. Police probe revealed that the 28-year-old ordered food online and received the delivery at the flat’s door or the building’s main gate on the ground floor.
Avinash Kumar, who represented Poonawala in court on Thursday, said that police sought extension of Poonawala’s custody to identify a shop on the Mehrauligurugram (MB) road where the accused ostensibly claimed he bought a saw. This is the second place where the police will take Poonawala, based on his apparent assertion that he bought a weapon from the spot. On Monday, Poonawala took the police to a shop in Chhattarpur market, where he claimed he bought the weapon. Police recorded the shopkeeper’s statement that said he did not remember Poonawala. “He confessed to the police that he has used more than one weapon. All his claims will be verified as part of the probe,” said the first officer.
The second officer aware of the probe said Poonawala told police that he strangled Walkar in a fit of rage on the evening of May 18. The officer said that the couple had been fighting for the previous few months, including during their holiday in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “The fight on May 18 actually started in the afternoon. Walkar wanted Poonawala to shift to Delhi... from Mumbai. Poonawala did not want to shift, which made her suspect that he was having an affair...” the officer added. In the next five days of Poonawala’s custody, police plan to take him to Bir and Kasol in Himachal Pradesh and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, where the couple visited before coming to Delhi in May.
Poonawala and Walkar were in a relationship and moved to Delhi in May 2022. Walkar was estranged from her family who opposed her relationship with Poonawala but the incident came to light when a friend informed Walkar’s father that he had not heard from her for at least two months. Her father then informed Mumbai Police in October.
A month-long probe by Mumbai and Delhi Police led investigators to the flat in south Delhi where Poonawala allegedly murdered Walkar.