Officials of Delhi Police on Sunday continued the probe in the dense forest area of South Delhi’s Mehrauli with an aim to recover the dismembered body parts of Shraddha Walker, believed to be disposed of by her murderer Aaftab Ameen Poonawala across the national capital.
Earlier, Delhi police, after recovering around 12 suspected body parts disposed of by Aaftab, the accused in the Shraddha murder case, later brought him to the jungle to recover other body parts, according to police sources on 13 November. The samples recovered so far have been sent for examination to ascertain if they are all human remains, according to police sources.
“Around 12 samples recovered of remains suspected to be of a human, have been picked up by forensic experts and sent to confirm if they’re all human remains. They’ll be sent to match with DNA samples of her father,” the sources said.
According to the sources, the East Delhi Police also found a chopped head and hand in the Trilokpuri area of Pandav Nagar police station 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.
The Southern District Police has contacted the Eastern District Police in this regard. The East District Police has handed over all the information to the South District Police.
According to the sources, Aaftab, 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 Aaftab 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 Aaftab 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 Walker murder case, in which they have found a pending water bill in accused Aaftab Poonawalla’s flat, given the circumstances that 20,000 litres of water in Delhi are 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 Aaftab had informed the police that the water bill of all the floors comes to zero, except for Aaftab’s, who had an outstanding due of Rs 300, thus raising suspicion.
“After the murder, Aaftab 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 Aaftab used to regularly go and check the building’s water tank,” the sources said.