'Killed Shraddha in heat of the moment,’ says Aftab; custody extended by 4 days

Aftab Amin Poonawala, accused of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, on Tuesday (November 22) told a Delhi court that he committed the crime in the “heat of the moment” and not deliberately.

The court in Delhi’s Saket extended Aftab’s custody by four more days after he was produced via video conferencing in a special hearing. His five-day custody period was ending on Tuesday. The court also allowed Delhi police to conduct a polygraph test on Aftab.

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Aftab, 28, also told the court that he has been completely cooperating with police and has helped in finding the body parts of Shraddha which he had dumped in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest. Even though he assured the court to provide more details on the crime, Aftab said he is unable to recall a lot of things and help finding the exact locations as Delhi was new to him.

Aftab allegedly strangled Shraddha to death on May 18, sawed her body into 35 pieces and disposed them in the forest. He was arrested on November 12 after Shraddha’s father filed a complaint.

Watch: Shraddha murder: Aftab’s behaviour was normal, says neighbour

Delhi Police sources told the media that during interrogation, Aftab admitted that he disposed off the blade and saw which he used to dismember Shraddha’s body in the bushes in Gurugram’s DLF Phase 3. He also revealed that he has disposed a cleaver knife used in the crime in a garbage dump in the Mehrauli area.

Based on Aftab’s confession, police on November 18 collected evidence from the bushes in Gurugram and sent those to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

Aftab was also taken to the shop near his house from where he bought the saw blade.

Delhi Police on Sunday, recovered more human remains from the Mehrauli forest. This includes the base of a skull, a jaw and bones, which have been sent for forensic examination. Police had earlier recovered eight to 10 bones and sent them for forensic test to compare the DNA with that of Shraddha’s father.

Aftab’s lawyer told the media that police said that he was taken to search a pond in Mehrauli forest and Maidangarhi areas in Delhi. The police also plan to drain the pond to find more evidence as Aftab has confessed to dumping some of the body parts there, the lawyer said.

Delhi HC says ‘no’ to CBI handover

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea urging the case to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

While the plea alleged that the presence of media and public in places where the investigation is being conducted amounts to interfering with evidence, the court said it will not monitor the Delhi Police’s probe.

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Delhi Police also assured the court that senior officers of the department are handling the case and that the investigation is 80 per cent complete.