Shraddha murder: Aftab read about human anatomy, googled how to clean blood

This gruesome murder shook the country when details of how a 28-year-old man allegedly killed a year younger live-in partner, chopped her into 35 pieces and then disposed off her body bit by bit.

Aftab Amin Poonawala was arrested for allegedly killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar. Details about the murder and how he kept it hidden for more than five months have now come out after he was arrested by the Delhi Police.

According to Delhi Police, Aftab had googled method of blood cleaning and read about human anatomy after murdering his live-in partner. Delhi Police said that Aftab had killed Shraddha on May 18, 2022, and then started planning for disposal of the body. He reportedly told police that he had read about human anatomy so that it could help him in chopping off the body.

Gadgets seized

Police said that they have seized Aftab’s electronic gadgets as they could help in establishing Aftab’s confession.

Aftab, a resident of Mumbai, was caught on the basis of a complaint by the father of the deceased and has been sent to police remand for five days, the police said on Monday. Delhi police had received a complaint from Shraddha’ father and registered an FIR on November 10.

Also read: Delhi man kills live-in partner, chops body into 35 pieces, dumps them over 18 days

Met on dating site

Aftab and Shraddha reportedly met on a dating site and later moved in together while working at a call centre in Mumbai. They later moved to Delhi and took up a rented accommodation in Chhatarpur.

“The two got together via a dating app in Mumbai. They were in a live-in relationship for three years and had shifted to Delhi. Soon after the two shifted to Delhi, Shraddha started pressurizing the man to marry her,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South Delhi Ankit Chauhan told ANI.

Frequent quarrels

“The two quarrelled frequently and it used to get out of control. In this particular instance that occurred on May 18, the man lost his temper and strangled her,” said Chouhan. “The accused told us that he chopped her into pieces and disposed of her parts in nearby areas in the jungle area of Chhatarpur Enclave,” Chouhan added.

He also used incense sticks and room freshener to suppress the foul smell.

Detailed planning

Police said that Aftab, after searching on Google, cleaned blood stained from the floor with some chemicals and disposed stained clothes. He shifted the body in bathroom and bought a refrigerator from a nearby shop. Later, he chopped the body into 35 small pieces and put them in the fridge.

He used to take out the chopped pieces, pack them in polythene bags and take them to the forest in a backpack. “He would go to the jungle at around 2 am and return a couple of hours later. He repeated this for around 20 days,” the official said.

Aftab had cleaned the fridge after disposing the body parts.

In September, Shraddha’s friend had informed her family that there was no contact with Shradhha for the last two-and-a-half months and her mobile number was also switched off. Her family also checked her social media accounts and found no updates during this period.

Father’s complaint

In November, Shraddha’s father Vikash Madan Walker approached Mumbai police and lodged a missing person’s complaint. During the initial investigation, Shraddha’s last location was found in Delhi, and on the basis of this, the case was transferred to Delhi police. Shraddha’s father told the police about his daughter’s relationship with Aftab and suspected his involvement in his daughter’s absence.

During the investigation, it was found that Aaftab and Shraddha had come to Delhi and started living in a rented apartment in Chhattarpur Pahadi area. The police during the course of the investigation, traced Aftab and nabbed him.

Aftab, during questioning, confessed to the crime and said that they fought often as Shraddha was pressurizing him for marriage.

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“The accused has been arrested and a case under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) has been registered at Mehrauli police station,” officials said.

Police also recovered some bones from Aftab’s rented flat and officials said that the efforts to recover the remaining parts of the body were on.

(With Agency inputs)