Shraddha Murder Case: Delhi Police to seek further custody of Aftab; here's why

As the probe into the infamous Shraddha murder case continues, some key evidences in the case are yet to be recovered -- like the murder weapon, and the severed head of the victim that Aftab allegedly kept in his fridge for several days before disposing of it.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police will present Aftab Poonawala, the accused in the infamous Shraddha Walkar murder case, before Saket Court on Thursday to seek his further custody. Though the accused has himself confessed to the crime and narrated details of the murder, the Delhi Police said he has been changing his statements and might be misleading the case. The police said they need further custody of at least one week to get more details from the accused.

So far, the police have recovered some bones from the Mehrauli jungle area that are suspected to be human bones and have sent them to the forensic team for confirmation. They also found some bloodstains in the Mehrauli flat where Aftab chopped Shraddha's dead body into 35 pieces after he strangled her to death on May 18. Moreover, they have several testimonies from neighbours, friends, and shopkeepers who sold Aftab the murder weapon and the fridge wherein he stored her chopped body parts for months.

However, some key evidences in the case are yet to be recovered -- like the murder weapon, and the severed head of the victim that Aftab allegedly kept in his fridge for several days before disposing it of. Shardhha's and Aftab's bloodstained clothes which the latter has admitted to have disposed of in a civic garbage van are also yet to be traced. Shraddha's mobile phone is also missing.

Delhi Police has said that it would take around 15 days for the forensics team to get the results of DNA testing of the recovered bones. Meanwhile, they have also sought permission for a narco-test as the accused has changed his statements multiple times during the interrogation. The probe continues with the officials trying to get more evidence through CCTV surveillance, call records, and the dating app Bumble, where the accused had met Shraddha three years ago.

In the most recent development, the officials have found that Aftab had received a water bill worth rs 300, likely because of the large amount of water that he might have used to clean the blood after chopping Shraddha's body.

Aftab Poonawaala killed Shraddha Walkar, his live-in partner, on May 18 during a fight in their new flat in the Mehrauli area in Delhi. He strangled her to death, chopped her into 35 pieces, brought a new fridge to store them, and eventually disposed of the severed body parts at different locations in the city in small plastic bags over the next few months. He was arrested around 5 months after the murder, and confessed to the crime during interrogation.