Shraddha Walkar murder: SIT to probe letter angle, political pressure, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state government will also request Union home minister Amit Shah to try the case in a fast-track court.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced that a special investigation team (SIT) of senior police officers will investigate the Shraddha Walkar murder case.

Aaftab Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar. (HT Photo)

The SIT will also look into an alleged delay in registering the case and withdrawal of the letter by Walkar and if there was any political pressure behind it, Fadnavis said in the state legislature in Nagpur. It was demanded by BJP MLA Ashish Shelar.

“So far, it has been found there wasn't political pressure on Shraddha Walkar to withdraw the complaint. We are investigating the matter. There was a month's gap between the filing and withdrawal of the complaint. We will probe what action did the police took during that time,” Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis said the state government would also request Union home minister Amit Shah to try the case in a fast-track court.

Walkar was allegedly murdered and her body was chopped into 35 pieces by her live-in partner Aaftan Amin Poonawala, 28. He had 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.

The Maharashtra Police had earlier claimed that in 2020, Walkar had made a complaint at the Tulinj Police Station in Palghar, in which she stated that Poonawala, had beaten her and threatened to kill her.

The Maharashtra Police has confirmed that she had written a complaint letter on November 23, 2020, to the Tulinj police station.

In the complaint letter, Walker said she "did not have the guts to go to the police" because Poonawala had threatened to kill her. However, she added that he tried to kill her on the day she was writing the letter, and he also threatened to cut her into pieces and throw her away.

"It's been six months he has been hitting me," the letter read.

The letter further claimed that Poonwala's parents were aware that he beat her up and that he attempted to kill her.

The Delhi Police had previously said Poonwala, following his arrest in the case, confessed to killing his live-in partner in their apartment in Chhatarpur and to chopping her body into 35 pieces.

Both had met on a dating site and moved in together to a rented accommodation in Chhatarpur as the relationship grew.