Delhi court extends Aaftab Poonawala’s judicial custody by 14 days

Aaftab Poonawala was virtually produced before the judge because of security reasons and his judicial remand was extended till December 23

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday extended by 14 days the judicial custody of 28-year-old Aaftab Poonawala who is accused of killing his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and dismembering her body, a senior police officer said.

Aaftab Poonawala was arrested on November 12 by the Delhi police on charges of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar. (PTI)

Poonawala was virtually produced before the judge because of security reasons and his judicial remand was extended till December 23, said special commissioner of police (law and order) Sagar Preet Hooda.

The court allowed the authorities to produce Aaftab Poonawala via video conference at the request of the city police on security grounds.

On November 28, a group of men from a fringe right-wing Hindu outfit, some wielding swords, tried to attack Poonawala outside the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) offices in Rohini where he was taken for a polygraph test.

Police said Tihar jail authorities had assigned the third battalion of Delhi Armed Police to escort Poonawala to the court but it was later decided to produce him via video conference due to concerns around his security.

Investigators have conducted polygraph and Narco Analysis Test on Poonawala to get some clues and leads in the case. The results of these tests are not admissible in court.

Poonawala has undergone a polygraph test and a narco analysis by forensic science experts but the reports are yet to be finalised. These reports are expected to help the police ascertain the chain of events leading to Shraddha Walkar’s death and how Aaftab Poonawala disposed of her body.

To be sure, any claims Poonawala made during his police custody are inadmissible in court, as are the results of the narco analysis and polygraph test conducted on him.

Poonawala is accused of strangling Walkar at their rented flat in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur Pahadi on May 18, chopping up her body into at least 35 pieces and preserving them in a refrigerator before dumping them in forested areas in Delhi and Gurugram over three months.

Thirteen decomposed bones and part of a jaw, collected as part of the investigation into the murder, have been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory for a DNA analysis to establish that they belong to Walkar.

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