Aaftab Amin Poonawala, 28, had initially planned to dispose of the body of his live-in partner, Shraddha Vikas Walkar, 27, by just burning her face with a blowtorch, investigators associated with the case said on Wednesday quoting the suspect’s revelations during his questioning.
Poonawala allegedly murdered Walkar on May 18 and chopped her body into at least 35 pieces for over two days, stored them in a refrigerator for nearly three months and dumped them in places near Chhattarpur and Qutub Minar in south Delhi. Poonawala was arrested last Saturday, and the police have said that he has confessed to murdering Walkar.
“He said the original plan was not to chop the body. It isn’t clear what prompted him to chop his partner’s body and dispose it piece by piece over three months. He has not given any clear information about the weapon used to cut the body. He also claimed that he used a blowtorch claims it was a blowtorch. He has also mentioned that he used also used a lighter. Given his background in hotel management and internship in hotel kitchen, it is possible the he may have used a blowtorch. As of now there is no evidence to corroborate his statements,” said one officer who is privy to the interrogation details.
While police said that they have collected the blood samples of Walkar’s father for DNA profiling, the experts from FSL said on Wednesday said that they were yet to receive any exhibits.
According to officers aware of Poonawala’s interrogation, he told the police that he murdered Walkar at around 8-9 pm on May 18 after a fight over expenses. One investigator said differences had cropped up between the couple since Shraddha suspected Poonawala of having an affair with another woman. This is why they decided to take a break, the officers said.
According to the police, the couple went to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, before coming to Delhi in May.
“On the day of the murder the couple had fought over expenses in bringing their belongings from Maharashtra to Delhi. Initially, Poonawala had said that differences had emerged because Shraddha suspected him of having an affair,” one police officer, privy to the probe details said.