Aftab Poonawalla Killed His Live-in Partner Shraddha Walker Hardheartedly

Shraddha Walker [27] was heinously murdered by her boyfriend Aftab Poonawalla [28] in Chattarpur, Delhi. In 2019, Shraddha Walker met Aftab via the dating app Bumble. The notable aspect of this app is that men cannot approach a woman but only the woman can take the first move. They started meeting and got a job together at a call center in Mumbai. Shraddha lives with her parents in Vasai. She wanted to marry Aftab but her Mother wouldn’t approve of her relationship with a Muslim boy. So, Shraddha left her family and started living in Vasai with Aftab.

After Shraddha left home to live with Aftab, her mother was the only family that stayed in contact with her but she died in 2020. Now, Shraddha’s sole connection was her friend Laxman Nadar. Shraddha was active on Instagram, so her friends kept track including her father.

Shraddha & Aftab’s relationship facts from friends & neighbors

Under the mutual understanding, both Aftab and Shraddha moved to Delhi on 15th May 2022.

On 3rd December 2020, Shraddha was hospitalized in Vasai [Maharashtra] with acute back pain. A photo and medical reports from the Ozone Multispecialty Hospital from 2020 got viral on social media channels. The suspicion was that Aftab assaulted her because the woman in the photo had bruises on her face and the nose injury was highlighted. According to the medical reports, she was admitted after 4 to 5 days of suffering from acute back pain.

After the murder, several of Shraddha’s friends confirmed that both used to fight fiercely over petty things and he has assaulted her physically several times. According to the media, Aftab was also in a relationship with many girls even when he was in a live-in with Shraddha. There was also the issue of taking financial responsibility. So, the reasons for the fights are unclear because Shraddha is dead.

Her friends told the police that Shraddha was unhappy with him and desperately wanted to break the relationship. Laxman said that she had contacted him on WhatsApp asking to be rescued from her home. She wrote that if she stayed Aftab would kill her that night.

Another friend Rajat Shukla remembered how her personality had changed after she moved to live with Aftab. Basically, Shraddha was an active person and had a lot of sparks but since she started seeing Aftab, her friends recall that she had started withering.

Her friends had a feeling that Shraddha was living in hell with a fear of getting killed by Aftab. Even the neighbors agreed that both would frequently fight.

In April 2022, Shraddha and Aftab took a tour of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to resolve their differences before moving to their rental flat in Delhi. On 15th May, the couple moved to the Delhi apartment.

How the search for missing Shraddha started?

Laxman was the only one Shraddha had contact with after her mother’s death. After she moved to Delhi, he kept calling her through June & July but her mobile phone was switched off. He did not get a response to his messages. So, on 14th September, he called Shreejay [Shraddha’s brother] and told him about Shraddha’s phone situation. Shreejay and his father Vikas Walker filed a complaint for missing persons in Manikpur, Maharashtra.

Some days later, the Manikpur police informed Vikas that his daughter had moved with her boyfriend Aftab to Chattarpur, Delhi. On 8th November, Vikas visited Shraddha’s flat in Delhi but there was a lock on her door. So, he filed an FIR at Mehrauli police station, Delhi against Aftab for kidnapping his daughter. Vikas complained that Aftab used to assault her physically. Her friends Laxman and Shivani said that their relationship was not good, so he is certain that Aftab is responsible for his daughter’s disappearance.

Shraddha had also visited her father one month after her mother died. She had confessed that Aftab beat her harshly all the time. As a father, he had advised her to stay and leave Aftab. Unfortunately, the next day Aftab showed up at his house and apologized to her and she went back.

The Mehrauli police took action and tracked Aftab. They detained him on 14th November. He told that they had a fight and Shraddha left the house. He did not know where she went. The neighbors told the media that they had never seen Shraddha but only Aftab around.

How did the Delhi police catch Aftabs’ network of lies?

When the investigation was initiated, Aftab told the Delhi police that Shraddha left after a fight on May 22. He said she left her belongings but carried her phone only. He appealed that she was unreachable and he couldn’t contact her.

The truth came out when the couple’s phone call records were checked and investigated. The breakthrough moment was when the police received the couple’s account statement that revealed Rs.54, 000 transactions from Shraddha’s net bank account app to Poonawalla’s account on 26th May. It exposed Aftab’s lies about Shraddha’s phone being unreachable after 22nd May. He claimed not to have contact with her since she went away from the house. The bank transfer that occurred on 26th May turned out to be from the Mehrauli police station zone.

On 31st May, there was a chat on Shraddha’s Instagram account with her friend. The location of the phone during the chat was also in the Mehrauli police station zone. When the police questioned Aftab that if Shraddha took her phone then why was its location traced to his home? Aftab knew that his lies were exposed, so he revealed the truth.

After the arrest, DCP Ankit Chauhan revealed to the media that Aftab confessed to having strangled Shraddha after a fight on the eve of 18th May. Vikas Walker was in the room when Aftab confessed to the murder of his daughter. According to Vikas, as a father, he was feeling lost in the room but Aftab was not feeling guilty or remorse for his odious action.

How did Aftab manage to stay away from the police for 6 months?

Here is a timeline that gives an idea of Aftab’s activities after killing Shraddha.

• On 15th May the couple shifted to the Delhi apartment.
• On 18th May Aftab murdered Shraddha because she was pressurizing him to marry her. The strangulation claims to be a heat-of-the-moment action allegedly because of the topic of marriage.
• On 20th May Aftab purchased a 300L refrigerator to refrigerate the chopped body parts of Shraddha. He watched Dexter and had a plan in mind for how to dispose of the 35 body parts. He used to dispose of every body part across the forest in Mehrauli at night when there was no one around.
• Until 2nd June, Aftab used her social media to stay connected with her friends.
• On 14th November Aftab was arrested and after a confession was taken into custody.

What was discovered during the interrogation?

The police were told by the accused that –

• He had planned to kill Shraddha more than 7 days ago before the actual murder event.
• After strangulating Shraddha, he had thrown her phone away. The police are searching for it.
• Aftab kept using Shraddha’s Instagram account until June to make contacts think she was alive and avoid any suspicion.
• He even transferred Rs.54, 000 from Shradda’s account from 22nd Nov to 26th Nov into his account. After which the phone was switched off.
• Aftab said he carried body parts packed within black aluminum foil past midnight around 2.00 am because the foot traffic was low.
• He first disposed of her intestine and liver after mincing. Aftab is a skilled chef, so capable of using a knife on flesh.
• He ordered food on Zomato to avoid suspicion from the neighbors.
• He used to sleep in the same room, where Shraddha was killed and cut. He put her face inside the fridge. The fridge was cleaned thoroughly after the body parts were disposed of. He learned how to clean a murder site thoroughly from Google.
• Until now, police are unable to locate the weapon used to cut Shraddha’s body.

Aftab agreed to cooperate with the police investigation

The confession was made at the Saket Court hearing before the honorable judge. The accused Aftab confessed that whatever happened was due to anger without any thoughts. He was provoked. He promised in court to collaborate with the police but was having a hard time remembering the incident. Remember, he did not confess that he killed her but said everything occurred in anger. Aftab’s lawyer Khan said that the court didn’t take this declaration on record.

After the confession, the Delhi police got permission to conduct a polygraph test and narco analysis because he was misleading investigators during interrogation. A polygraph test helps to identify whether the accused has committed the crime or not. The subject is connected to a machine and questions are asked relating to the incident. Continuous variations of heartbeat and body reactions are observed. These are used to conclude.

Some relevant investigation facts

• In the Mumbai police investigation, the last location of Shraddha’s phone was in Mehrauli, Delhi. So, the matter was handed to Delhi police and the suspicion was directed toward Aftab.
• During the investigation, only some of her body parts are discovered but the police are still looking around.
• Aftab says he has forgotten a lot about where he threw her body parts because time has passed.
• Aftab answers every question in English during the police interrogation.
• The police found a little blood from the kitchen that will be matched with Shraddha’s father’s DNA.
• Her bag, shoes and some clothes were found in the house but the clothes in which she was murdered were dumped by him in a garbage van.

In the Shraddha murder case, a new development was recorded, where an audio clip was recovered by the Delhi police. In the audio clip, you can listen to the fight between Aftab and Shraddha. The police are regarding this audio clip to be major evidence, which can help to determine the real reasoning behind this horrible murder.

Voice sampling test

The Delhi court approved the Delhi police plea to obtain Aftab Poonawala’s voice sample. The court gave permission saying that the accused doesn’t have any right to deny giving his voice sample. The court even asked the accused to be taken to CFSL, CBI headquarters.

Narco analysis test

Aftab underwent a polygraph test followed by Narco Analysis at the Forensic Science Lab. The investigation officer is informed to collect the narco-test report. Another breakthrough the police received was that the bone pieces got from Mehrauli forest matched the DNA samples of the victim’s father.

Where is Aftab at the moment?

Aftab is currently boarded in the Tihar jail. His lawyer MS Khan applied on Aftab’s behalf in the Saket Court to allow his client to purchase daily items and warm clothes. The accused has no sufficient winter clothes in jail and needs funds to buy necessities. Aftab has some funds and has appealed to the court to give him his debit card that the police officials seized during the arrest. Aftab’s family has broken all ties with him, so he has no money source.

Aftab’s bail plea in December contended that keeping him in jail could damage his future and career but later he informed the court via email to drop the bail application.

Shraddha Murder case

The Shraddha-Aftab murder case was a shock to everyone. The Delhi Police detained Aftab for purportedly assassinating his live-in girlfriend and dismembering her body in 35 parts. Across 18 days, he disposed of them in the forest around Mehrauli. During the initial investigation stage, the accused tried to deceive the Delhi police. Nevertheless, even if he was smart enough to remove the material evidence, a digital trail was left behind. It helped the Delhi police reach the truth, and expose his alleged crime.