Delhi murder: Different lock-ups, extra personnel for Aaftab’s safety in light of threats

Poonawala, who was arrested on November 12, allegedly strangled his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar to death, and then chopped her body into 35 pieces at his Chhattarpur Pahadi flat. He dumped the body pieces over three months at various spots in south Delhi, police have said.

With people – both online and offline – and some religious organisations demanding capital punishment for Aaftab Poonawala, taking out protest marches both in Delhi and Maharashtra, and the ruckus created by a group lawyers at the Saket court where Poonawala was going to be produced on Thursday, the Delhi Police are taking extra precautions to keep him safe.

According to police officers aware of the case, Poonawala is being kept at different police stations and other locations in south Delhi, and added that extra safety measures are being taken when he is taken out on streets or in forests to assist the investigating team. (PTI)

Poonawala, who was arrested on November 12, allegedly strangled his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar to death, and then chopped her body into 35 pieces at his Chhattarpur Pahadi flat. He dumped the body pieces over three months at various spots in south Delhi, police have said.

According to police officers aware of the case, Poonawala is being kept at different police stations and other locations in south Delhi, and added that extra safety measures are being taken when he is taken out on streets or in forests to assist the investigating team in recovering parts of Walkar’s dismembered body, the weapon that he allegedly used to chop up her body, her belongings and other evidence related to the crime.

During the night, some policemen are deployed outside the lock-up of police stations with directions to remain vigilant and keep a watch on his activities in custody, the officers said.

On Thursday, police moved an application before a Delhi court and sought permission to produce Poonawala through video conferencing for the hearings in their second application regarding extension of his police custody. In their submission, the police mentioned that the matter is sensitive as religious sentiments of the people are attached to it and that Poonawala may be “attacked by religious groups and miscreants” if produced physically in the courtroom.

While arguments were in progress on the police’s application for virtual production, scores of lawyers outside the court room in Saket started sloganeering, seeking the death penalty for Poonawala. Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the judge agreed to the police’s submission and held the hearings virtually.

A police officer, who asked not to be named, said that intelligence inputs were shared with the police that Poonawala may be attacked by a mob or some fringe groups as part of their communal propaganda. Following this, police personnel were added to the group that accompanied Poonawala and the investigating team during the search operation, and other legal procedures such as his medical check-ups in the government hospital.

Poonawala was arrested on Saturday (November 12) by the team of the Mehrauli police station where the kidnapping and murder case of Walkar was registered. On Monday, information regarding Poonawala’s arrest and the grisly murder crime came to light. However, there was no restriction on anybody, including media persons, to visit the police station for coverage regarding the case.

But on Tuesday, when the case gained a lot of traction and people started expressing their anger against the couple, Poonawala in particular, on social media, the police became vigilant. The main gate of the Mehrauli police station was closed, and restrictions on the entry of media persons were imposed. The area outside the police station remained jam-packed as people started coming to catch a glimpse of Poonawala and get updates in the case.

To keep him safe, Poonawala was shifted to Malviya Nagar police station on Wednesday evening after taking him to Chhatarpur and other places in south Delhi for the search operation. As a precautionary measure, the police took him to the same forest on Thursday in the early morning hours. During the evening, he was kept at an unknown location in Chhatarpur where he was interrogated. He was brought back to the Mehrauli police station in the night.

On Friday, the officers left the police station with Poonawala early and shifted him in different vehicles while taking him to a wooded area in Gurugram for recovering more body parts. He was immediately removed from the forest and shifted to a safe location in Gurugram, around a kilometre away from the forest, soon after media persons and some people gathered outside the forest.

“After the ruckus in the court on Thursday and in view of demands to hang him being raised on the social media as well as at a march that was taken out in Delhi and similar events being conducted in Maharashtra, we are taking extra precautions,” added the officer.