Paul Theroux's railway odyssey given to Aaftab Poonawala in Tihar jail: Reports

There are also reports that Aaftab Poonawala spends time plotting chess moves, often solitary and occasionally sparring with two fellow inmates.

The Tihar jail authorities reportedly gave Aaftab Amin Poonawala, arrested in connection with the murder of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, a copy of 'The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia', a travelogue by American novelist Paul Theroux. Poonawala has requested the jail administration to provide him with English novels and literature books to read, reported news agency ANI.

Aaftab Amin Poonawala was arrested in connection with the murder of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar. (File)

"The murder accused Aaftab, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, requested police for an English novel to read inside jail," Tihar Jail sources told ANI.

The jail authorities gave him the book as it is not based on crime and does not have content that could make him harm others or himself, the sources added.

"We are taking care of the inmate as per protocols. He has now asked for English novels and other books. He said he wants to read more and indulge in literary activities… For now, we have provided him The Great Railway Bazaar. It is from our library. He will be provided more books later," said a jail official told news agency PTI.

There are also reports that Poonawala spends time plotting chess moves, often solitary and occasionally sparring with two fellow inmates.

In Tihar, Poonawala has been kept at Cell no 15 of Jail No 4. He shares his cell with two other inmates and they play chess sometimes. He has been found playing chess alone as well. "He is the single player and he strategises and plays both sides himself," jail officials told ANI. The other two inmates are accused of theft cases. Aaftab is a good player, the report said.

Hi chess strategy has put investigators in doubt about whether he will pull some tricks.

Both his polygraph test and narco-analysis tests have been done and in both tests, he confessed to having killed Shraddha, and then chopped her body into pieces.

Poonwala is accused of strangling to death his live-in partner and chopping her body into 35 pieces. He is also alleged to have preserved the chopped body parts in a refrigerator before dumping them in forested areas in Delhi and Gurugram.

The Delhi Police had submitted in court that Poonwala was giving wrong information and was misleading the investigation.