New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested a man, who murdered his live-in partner in Mehrauli area and chopped the body into 35 pieces before dumping them at various locations across the city.
Aftab Ameen Poonawalla had strangled 26 year-old Shradha Walker on May 18. As per sources, he then chopped her body into 35 pieces and bought a new fridge to store them and threw them at various locations in a period of 18 days.
To avoid any suspicion, he used to leave the house with a body part in a polybag at 2 a.m.
"The matter came to light on November 8, when the missing woman's father approached Delhi Police after she stopped responding to calls," said police.
Shradha worked with a call centre for a multinational company in Mumbai where she met Poonawalla. The two started dating and moved in together. However, her family did not approve of their relationship following which the couple eloped and came to Delhi.
A senior police official said that Poonawalla was arrested on Saturday and on interrogation he had revealed that the duo used to fight frequently and she wanted to marry him.
"A case of murder has been registered at Mehrauli police station, " said the official.
Giving more details, the police said that after chopping his 26-year-old girlfriend, Shraddha Walker, into pieces on May 18, the accused, Aftab Ameen Poonawalla, bought a brand new refrigerator with large storage capacity the next day and stored the body pieces in it. To counter the stench, he lit incense sricks sticks at his home.
Aftab was reportedly inspired by the American crime show 'Dexter', which tells the story of a man with homicidal tendencies who lives a double life.
Being a trained chef, Aftab was adept at using the knife, said sources. However, the knife used in the crime is yet to be recovered.
Aftab was taken to the Mehrauli forest area by the police on Monday to collect the body parts which he had disposed of there.
He had thrown the body pieces at various locations over a period of 18 days. To avoid suspicion, he used to leave his house with a body part in a polybag at around 2 am.
A childhood friend of Shraddha Walkar had first alerted her family in Maharashtra's Palghar of her "missing" status in September and that kickstarted the investigations into the sensational murder, a top police official said here on Monday.
According to Inspector Sampatrao Patil of Manikpur Police Station in Vasai town, the woman was in a friendship and affair with the accused since 2019.
The series of events started after they had reportedly met through a friendship app, and finally culminating in her brutal killing that has shaken the Vasai town.
"Shraddha Walkar was working in a BPO (call centre) in Malad where she came in contact with Poonawala. They became friends and also had an affair," said Patil.
Later, the woman - who lived in Evershine City in Vasai East - sought her family's permission to get married to Poonawala - who lived in Diwanman Complex in Vasai west.
However, there was strong objection from her family and Shraddha walked out of her home to go and live with Poonawala in a place in the Naigaon suburban area nearby.
Everything seemed to be normal and though estranged, she came and lived with her family for a fortnight when her mother died some time ago, and returned to Poonawala.
However, it was only in September 2022, when Laxman Nadar - Shraddha's childhood friend - told her brother that she had gone incommunicado for over a couple of months.
On learning this, her father, Vikas Walkar called Nadar to his home for full details when he revealed that she had been in touch with him but for the past two-three months, her phone was off and she had shifted with Poonawala to New Delhi.
The alarmed family also tried but couldn't contact her and Vikas Walkar submitted an application to the Vasaigaon Police Station, which directed him to Manikpur Police Station.
"We accepted the application from her father and suo moto registered a 'missing' complaint, and set up a special team to track her down," Patil said.
Since there was nothing much, the police initiated a tech-intel probe to discover that Nadar's information was correct and the family's apprehensions were proved true.
"Since May, her phone was off, she had gone off social media like Facebook, even her bank accounts were not operated. We also called Poonawala who came to Vasai and we have recorded his full statement," said Patil.
Poonawala admitted to the police here that he and Shraddha were live-in partners for the past few years and then moved to Delhi where they resided in the Chhattarpur area, and he was allowed to go.
The duo's relationship apparently went sour some months ago after she demanded that they get married, enraging Poonawala who ultimately killed her.
Not convinced by Poonawala's version, Walkar went to Delhi to search for his daughter last week and even sought help from the local police.
Meanwhile, Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar Police Commissioner Sadanand Date is understood to have spoken with the Delhi Police Commissioner to assist in the matter.
The Delhi Police finally zeroed in on Poonawala, arrested him and he confessed to the diabolic crime that sent shockwaves among the people in the national capital and in Palghar.
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