Aftab planned to kill Shraddha a week before
I browsed Google all night to search for ways to dispose of the body, accused says
Aftab Amin Poonawalla, who is accused of killing his live-in partner, Shraddha Walker, chopping her body into 35 pieces and dumping them in the forests of south Delhi’s Chhatarpur, has said he made up his mind to kill her more than a week before the murder, Delhi Police said, yesterday.
“More than a week before the murder [May 18], I had made up my mind to kill Shraddha. Even on that day, Shraddha and I had a fight. I was determined to kill her when she suddenly became emotional and started crying. So I held back for later,” a police source quoted Poonawalla as saying in his confession.
‘Turst issues’
Poonawalla said his partner had trust issues because of which she would often get angry, leading to frequent fights.
Police said on further investigation, it was learnt that
the couple had a fight on May 18 during which Poonawalla killed Shraddha.
“I was scared as I knew that if I dumped the body somewhere, I might be caught. I browsed Google all night to search for ways to dispose of the body and not arouse any suspicion. I also searched the internet on what kind of chopper would I have to use to piece the body,” police quoted Poonawalla as saying.
He also confessed to his fondness for watching web series and shows related to crime and it was from these shows
that he borrowed ideas on preserving the chopped-off body parts and disposing them later, police said, adding that he did it all by himself.
According to police sources, the accused first disposed of her liver and intestines after mincing them. Since he was a trained chef, he knew how to use the knife on her flesh, police added.
Earlier yesterday, Delhi Police said it had already recovered about 12 body parts disposed by Poonawalla. The accused was taken to the forest area of Chhatarpur yesterday to help the sleuths recover the remaining body parts, sources said. However, they said the victim’s head hasn’t yet been found.
Death penalty demanded
Shraddha’s father, Vikas Walker, yesterday demanded the death penalty for the accused.
Walker said, “We demand that Aftab be sentenced to death. I have faith in the Delhi Police as the investigation is moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn’t talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the first complaint in the case at Vasai [Mumbai]
“I had spoken to Shraddha last in 2021. I would ask her to tell me more about her livein partner. But she didn’t say much. I did not know she had shifted to Delhi. Her friend told me she was in Delhi. I thought that she was in Bangaluru. Aftab had a lot of time to remove all the evidence,” Walker said.
Meanwhile, sources said the city police may write to the dating app Bumble, where the couple first met, seeking details of Poonawalla’s profile.