Making a startling revelation in the Shraddha Walker murder case, Delhi Police sources said that the accused Aaftab Poonawalla had charred his live-in partner Shraddha Walker’s face to hide her identity.
The Delhi Police sources said that he had first chopped her body into 35 pieces, then burnt her face in such a way that it becomes unidentifiable even if the body parts are discovered.
“During the interrogation, Aaftab revealed that he had learnt about all this on the internet, and also about how to hide the body from everyone’s reach,” the sources said.
In yet another loop in the gruesome murder case, the Southern District Police of Delhi have contacted their Eastern counterparts in a bid to match the DNA sample of chopped body parts including a human head which the latter had recovered earlier in June.
According to the sources, the East Delhi Police had found a chopped head and hand in the Trilokpuri area of Pandav Nagar police station area of the national capital in June this year, which was nearly a month after Shraddha was murdered (on 18 May).
In the East Delhi case, the police were not able to ascertain whose body parts they were because of the tampered state of the recovered body parts.
The body parts found in East Delhi were sent for a DNA test, and the forensic report will be coming soon.
The bones found in Mehrauli forests have also been sent for a DNA test. The police will match the DNA report of all the pieces found at both these places and will try to ascertain if the found body parts were of Shraddha, the sources said.
According to the sources, Aftab, during his interrogation, told the police that after killing Shraddha and chopping her body into 35 pieces, he had first disposed of those parts which could stink quickly.
“Accused Aftab told the police that he used bleach to destroy the evidence, and also used chemicals so that not a single stain of blood remained on the floor,” the sources said.
“He threw all the parts of the body in the forest and left thumb at some other location,” the sources added.
According to police sources, there was no remorse visible on his face during his interrogation.
“When the police officer talks to the accused in Hindi, he replies in English. He sleeps peacefully in the police station lockup all night. After the murder, the friends of the accused Aftab also came to the house..but during that time he had hidden the parts somewhere else,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has come across a fresh lead in the investigation of the Shraddha murder case, in which they have found a pending water bill in accused Aftab Poonawalla’s flat, given the circumstances that 20,000 litres of water in Delhi is provided free by the government, according to the sources.
According to the sources, the police received information from the neighbours of Aftab that he has an outstanding water bill of Rs 300.
The police are likely to investigate this angle as the Delhi government gives 20,000 litres of water for free. Two neighbours living on the floor above Aftab had informed the police that the water bill of all the floors comes to zero, except for Aftab’s, who had an outstanding due of Rs 300, thus rising suspicion.
“After the murder, Aftab used a lot of water to clean the blood stains leading to a high water bill and the pending bill. Neighbours told the Police that Aftab used to regularly go and check the building’s water tank,” the sources said.
The police have also got the information that in the rent agreement which was made, Aftab had put Shraddha’s name first and his own name at the last.
“The flat owner knew that they are not a married couple. They were given the flat through a broker. Aftab used to deposit Rs 9,000 into the account of the owner between 8 and 10 of every month,” the sources said.
The water bill is also likely to play an important role in the investigation. Today, if the court grants further custody to the police, they are likely to investigate this angle as well, according to the sources.
Earlier, Aftab had told police that before the murder there was a fight between the couple over the shifting of household items from Mumbai.
Police investigation revealed that the couple had a fight on 18 May during which Aftab killed Shraddha.
Delhi Police sources said the 18 May quarrel was not the first time, Aftab and Shraddha were fighting for three years.
“On 18 May, there was a fight between the two regarding bringing household items from Mumbai. They used to fight over who would bear the household expenses and bring items. Aftab got very angry about this. The quarrel started around 8 pm on 18 May when Aftab strangled Shraddha to death. He kept her body in the room overnight and went to buy a knife and refrigerator the next day,” sources told news agency.