New Delhi: A 28-year-old man reportedly strangled his live-in partner to death, chopped her body into 35 pieces which he stored in a newly bought 300-litre fridge for nearly three weeks at his residence, to which the deceased moved in along with him earlier in May, in South Delhi's Mehrauli before he disposed them off across the city in a phased manner, police said on Monday.
Police said the suspect Aaftab Amin Poonawala admitted to have killed Shraddha Walkar after a quarrel over marriage and he was inspired by "Dexter", an American crime series, to saw her body into pieces for easy disposal. Poonawala, a trained chef, evaded police action for six months. He continued to live in the house he shared with the victim and was arrested early Saturday after details of the killing and its aftermath came to light in the sustained interrogation.
Poonawala who bought the fridge to preserve the body parts would light up incense sticks and spray room fresheners at regular intervals to ensure that foul smell emanating from the corpse gave away his grisly act. It did help him keep it under the wraps through the time he disposed off all of the body parts.
The suspect had a meticulous plan for disposal. He would pack body parts in poly bags and would step out of his house after midnight. He chose the body parts in the order in which would decompose first and disposed off them first, which helped him evade the police action for at least six months.
So far, the police have recovered 13 body parts after the suspect identified the spots where he had disposed them off. "We would be able to confirm whether these body parts belong to the victim or not only after the results of forensic examination is carried out. We are yet to find the murder weapon," a police official privy to the investigation said.
After the murder, he was regularly interacting with the friends of the deceased posing as his victim to ward off any suspicion which may cross his path. The deceased was not talking with her family ever since they had objected to their relationship, which helped him remain elusive for some more time.
It appears he had been posing as Walkar from few weeks to months before her social media accounts went cold. Some of the friends of the deceased contacted Walkar's father and informed him that they were not able to reach his daughter for at least two months after Poonawala claimed that they had parted ways. Walkar's father lodged a missing complaint in Mumbai.
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"Around mid-May, the couple had an argument over marriage, which escalated and Poonawala killed her," Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP-I, South district, said. "The accused then cut her body into over 35 pieces. He bought a 300-litre fridge to preserve the body parts and stocked up on incense sticks and room fresheners. He disposed of the pieces in different parts of the city over several days. He used to step out past midnight to dump the severed body parts," he added.
Chauhan said the woman was not on talking terms with her family due to their differences over her relationship with Poonawala. The complaint by the victim's father alleged that Poonawala used to beat Walkar on several occasions and that she had informed her family about it earlier. "The woman's father called the accused up but was told that the couple had parted ways sometime back. Unable to contact his daughter, the man then filed a missing complaint," Chauhan said.
After receiving the complaint, Mumbai Police traced her last location to Delhi and also called Poonawala whose contradictory statements raised suspicion, prompting them to rope in Delhi Police. "Mumbai Police took out Call Detail Record (CDR) of Poonawala and Walkar and found her mobile was switched off since May. Then we called up Poonawala and inquired with him as well as his statement was recorded. He earlier said they were residing in Chattarpur locality in Delhi but in May she left his place after some fight between them. When Manikpur police found some contradiction in his statement, they informed the Delhi police and transferred all her details to them," a senior Mumbai police official said.
On November 8, Mumbai police reported at Mehrauli police station regarding the missing woman. During the investigation, a raid was conducted at Poonawala's residence and he was detained. Initially, he said that they both had some arguments and she left him. Later during sustained interrogation, Poonawala disclosed that he and the deceased were in a live-in relationship since 2019. They had frequent fights.
Poonawala and Walkar had met each other through an online dating application. Later, they started working for the same call centre in Mumbai and fell in love. But their families objected to the relationship as they belong to different faiths, prompting the couple to move to Mehrauli earlier this year, the officials said.
"On May 18, the accused and the victim had some arguments. She was shouting due to which he covered her mouth with his hand. Later, he strangulated her, cut the body into parts and disposed of them in a nearby jungle area," a senior Delhi Police official said. Poonawala has been remanded in a five-day police custody and further investigation is underway.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday issued a notice to Delhi police asking it to submit by November 18 an action taken report in the matter. DCW chief Swati Maliwal has called for stringent punishment to the suspect. "What kind of cruel people are there in society. Police have arrested the accused and the cruel man should be given strict punishment," she tweeted in Hindi.
Former Delhi Police ACP Ved Bhushan was quoted by PTI as saying the scientific evidence available against Aftab will end up in conviction. "Aftab watched a series Dexter to destroy evidence, chopped body parts in 35 pieces and disposed of body parts in the nearby jungle slowly. She was active on social media and when she was not found to be active, her father approached Mumbai Police and then subsequently the investigation came to Delhi," he said.
