Shraddha Walkar murder case: Court extends judicial custody of Aaftab Amin Poonawala by 14 days

Shraddha murder case: Delhi’s Saket court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala in the Shraddha Walkar murder case by a further 14 days. He has demanded some law books to study. The court has also directed the authorities to provide him with warm clothes.

Shraddha murder case | Delhi's Saket court extends judicial custody of Aftab Poonawala for the next 14 days.

He has demanded some law books to study. The court has also directed the authorities to provide him with warm clothes.

— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

On December 24, allowing the plea of Delhi Police seeking permission to obtain a voice sample of Poonawala, a Delhi court said even though a fair trial is a right of an accused but at the same time, a fair investigation is required in the larger public interest. Metropolitan Magistrate Vijayshree Rathore of Saket court said, "True, a fair trial is the right of the accused but it is also true that fair investigation is also required in the larger public interest as the offence cannot escape and crime cannot go unnoticed merely because the accused is not ready to aid in the investigation. Thus, the application moved by the Investigating Officer (IO) seeking permission for a voice sampling test of the accused is allowed."

Aaftab Poonawala, 28, killed Shraddha in May and allegedly sawed her body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days. Delhi Police claimed to solve the six-month-old murder case after arresting Aaftab on the basis of a complaint filed by Shraddha's father. Aaftab and Shraddha met on a dating site and moved in together to a rented accommodation in Chhatarpur as the relationship grew.

On receipt of the complaint from Shraddha's father, Delhi Police registered an FIR on November 10. Subsequent interrogation of the accused revealed that Aaftab killed Shraddha on May 18 after which he started researching ways to dispose of the body. He also borrowed ideas on disposal from popular crime shows on his streaming devices, Delhi Police revealed. He also told police that he read up on human anatomy before chopping his girlfriend's body.