Shraddha Walkar murder: Aaftab Poonawala expected to undergo polygraph test

The procedure for the test was initiated on Tuesday and as part of an interactive session, he was also called a rapport building exercise

Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who is accused of killing his partner Shraddha Walkar, was taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi’s Rohini, where his polygraph test was expected to be concluded on Thursday.

Poonawala being taken to the Mehrauli forest area in New Delhi on Tuesday as part of the probe into the murder. (PTI)

The procedure for the test was initiated on Tuesday. As part of an interactive session, he was also called a rapport building exercise for which he was asked basic questions about himself. The next significant session was scheduled for Wednesday. But Poonawala was reportedly unwell due to which the test was postponed to Thursday.

“The investigation officer said he [Poonawala] complained of fever so he was not brought to the laboratory. After the polygraph test, the narco analysis will happen at a city [Delhi] hospital,” said an official at the FSL, who asked not to be named.

The official added that before the narco-analysis, doctors will also conduct a detailed medical examination of the accused before giving the clearance.

Poonawala, 28, who worked at a call centre, was arrested for the murder of Walkar, 27 on May 18. Orignally from Vasai near Mumbai in Maharashtra, the two were in a live-in relationship and came to Delhi in May after visiting Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Police said Poonawala murdered Walkar on May 18. The murder came to light in October when Walkar’s father filed a missing complaint in Mumbai. Delhi and Mumbai police have questioned Poonawala as part of the probe.

Police arrested Poonawala on November 12 after he reportedly confessed to the murder and told police he chopped his partner’s body parts into at least 35 pieces, stored them in a refrigerator for nearly three months, and dumped the body parts piece by piece in different parts of south Delhi and Gurugram.

The narco-analysis and polygraph tests are crucial for investigators against the backdrop of Poonawala’s allegedly conflicting statements about the places where he threw the body parts and the weapons used.