Aaftab to be kept under 24x7 CCTV eye in jail
NEW DELHI: Aaftab Poonawala, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and chopping up her body parts, will likely be taken for a narco analysis test on Monday, said police officers aware of the matter, adding that preparations for the examination have been started.
Poonawala was also produced before a Delhi court on Saturday which sent him to judicial custody for 13 days, after which he was taken to Tihar prison, where he will be lodged in jail 4.
Surveillance cameras will monitor him for the entirety of his stay to ensure he does not harm himself, or others.
Tihar jail spokesperson Dheeraj Mathur said, “CCTV cameras will monitor him around-the-clock. A detailed medical examination was conducted in prison before he was allotted his space.”
A second jail officer, who asked not to be named, said, “The inmates around him were carefully chosen to ensure they keep an eye on Poonawala. The case was reported widely so other prisoners know about it too.”
Meanwhile, officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) said that the findings of the polygraph test sessions so far will be analysed over the weekend.
Aaftab Poonawala, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and chopping up her body parts, will likely be taken for a narco analysis test on Monday, said police officers aware of the matter, adding that preparations for the examination have been started.
Poonawala was also produced before a Delhi court on Saturday and sent to judicial custody for 13 days, after which he was taken to Tihar prison, where he will be lodged in jail 4.
Surveillance cameras will monitor him for the entirety of his stay to ensure he does not harm himself, or others.
Tihar jail spokesperson Dheeraj Mathur said, “CCTV cameras will monitor him around-the-clock. A detailed medical examination was conducted in prison before he was allotted his space.”
A second jail officer, who
asked not to be named, said Poonawala appeared to be calm and did not inform prison staff of any medical issues or illness.
“The inmates around him were carefully chosen to ensure they keep an eye on Poonawala. The case was reported widely so other prisoners know about it too,” added the second officer.
Meanwhile, officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) said that the findings of the polygraph sessions so far will be analysed over the weekend.
“The results are being analysed over the weekend. Another polygraph session will be held before the narco test,” the official said.
Another official said that during the polygraph test, Poonawala was asked many questions. However, he was “coughing and sneezing” while answering many of them, resulting in unsatisfactory responses.
“However, he seemed a little stressed when he was asked about his relationship with
Walkar, questions about the murder weapon and about throwing away the body parts. Preliminary findings have been shared with investigators, but the final report is yet to be shared,” he said.
Poonawala was taken for the first session of his polygraph test on Tuesday. He then reportedly fell ill on Wednesday, and was taken for subsequent sittings on Thursday and Friday.
The narco analysis and polygraph tests are inadmissible in court. However, through these tests, police hope to judge if Poonawala has been honest about his alleged version of the murder. The test results are also crucial for investigators as they attempt to sift through Poonawala’s reportedly conflicting statements.
Poonawala allegedly murdered his girlfriend, 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar on May 19 this year, chopped up her body and then dumped the body parts in forested areas in and around the
Capital.
The gruesome crime was unearthed last week after Poonawala allegedly told the police that he murdered Walkar (27), at their Chhattarpur flat 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 in south Delhi and Gurugram.
Aaftab dated others after murder: Police
In a related development, Delhi Police are contacting the people who reportedly visited Poonawala after the alleged murder, including multiple women.
Delhi Police officers involved in the case said he dated several women after the murder and brought them home as well. One of them, the officers said, is a psychologist.
The police had, earlier, written to dating app Bumble, asking for details about his possible interactions with others on the service.