Police are investigating why Aftab Poonawala, who allegedly killed his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and cut her body into pieces in Delhi’s Mehrauli, ended up with a water bill despite the fact that 20,000 liters is free every month.
A constantly running tap to mask any chopping sounds, hot water to wash the blood off the body, and chemicals mixed with water to remove stains from the flat – these are theories that cops are considering in relation to the $300 pending bill.
Most houses in the colony have a ‘zero’ bill because 20,000 liters, – roughly 35 buckets per day – are more than enough for a family. The couple moved into the rented flat on May 14, according to the investigation, but Aftab Poonawala had been living alone since May 18, the day he allegedly killed Shraddha Walkar.
“Such a high water bill is quite surprising,” said Rajendra Kumar, the father of flat owner Rohan Kumar, who said the rent was 9,000 per month. According to sources, the rent agreement includes both names: Shraddha’s first, then Aftab’s. “He used to transfer the rent online between the 8th and 10th of every month,” Rajendra Kumar explained, “which is why I never needed to go to the flat.”
They both worked in call centers and lived together in Maharashtra’s Vasai, a town near Mumbai, before moving to Delhi.
Aftab Poonawala was arrested earlier this month after her parents, who had not spoken to her since last year due to their dissatisfaction with her interfaith (Hindu-Muslim) relationship, went to the cops. Shraddha’s friends had informed him that she hadn’t been heard from in over two months, prompting him to file a missing report and, later, a kidnapping case. Cops from Maharashtra and Delhi then worked together to solve the case.
According to investigators, after strangling her over an argument about household expenses and infidelity, he used a knife to chop up her body, kept it in a new fridge he bought, and dumped it in a nearby jungle over an 18-day period.
Police have asked for permission to conduct a lie detector test on Aftab in order to strengthen the evidence before the trial. According to the police, the report of DNA tests to determine whether some-body parts discovered in the forest are Shraddha’s will take 15 days.
Police say they have Aftab’s confession, which he can technically retract in court; evidence that he bought a knife and fridge on May 19, a day after the murder; bones found in the jungle; blood found in the kitchen; bank details of 54,000 that Aftab obtained from Shraddha’s account; call records and location data from phones; Shraddha’s bag from the flat; and statements from her father and friends.
But the knife or saw used to cut up the body has not yet been found. Most parts of her body are missing so far. Clothes worn by Aftab and Shraddha on the day of the murder have not been found either. Shraddha’s mobile phone remains untraced.
Also Read: Gujarat Govt Is All About Criminalisation, Corruption & Commission: Congress Leader Digvijay Singh
