Aaftab Poonawala a trained chef, knew how to preserve flesh: Delhi cops to court

The court was hearing arguments on charges levelled by the Delhi Police against Poonawala, where they said the circumstantial evidence in the case is powerful and compelling.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday told a Delhi court that Aaftab Poonawala, accused of murdering his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, and disposing of her body by dismembering it, is a well-trained chef and knows how to use knife to dismember and preserve flesh.

Aaftab Poonawala, 28, allegedly sawed Shraddha Walkar’s 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. (HT Photo)

The court was hearing arguments on charges levelled by the Delhi Police against Poonawala, where they said the circumstantial evidence in the case is powerful and compelling as it is well corroborated. The evidence is also consistent and leads to a logical conclusion that the murder was done by Poonawala, police submitted. Special public prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing for the Delhi Police, submitted a 4-page synopsis establishing a timeline regarding the time that Poonawala and Walkar spent together in Mumbai and Delhi.

Poonawala was also produced before the court where he submitted that he has changed his counsel from advocate M S Khan to advocate Javed Hussian. Additional sessions judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar granted time to the new legal aid to go through the case files and the case has now been listed for hearing on March 20.

Poonawala, 28, allegedly sawed Walkar’s 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.

Metropolitan magistrate Aviral Shukla took cognisance on February 7 of the 6,629-page chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police against Poonawala. The court committed the case to the sessions court for further trial on February 21. Poonawala has been in custody since November 12.