'Not deliberate... in heat of moment': Poonawala, Shraddha Walkar murder accused
Delhi murder: Shraddha Walkar was allegedly killed by boyfriend Aaftab Poonawala in May, after the couple moved from Mumbai.
Aaftab Poonawala - accused of murdering his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar, chopping the body into 35 pieces and dumping those in forested areas in Delhi's Mehrauli and Chhatarpur, and in Haryana's Gurgaon - claimed on Tuesday morning his actions were 'not deliberate'.
Poonawala's lawyer, Abhinash Kumar, said his client told a Delhi court 'whatever happened... it was in the heat of the moment' and that he had since 'fully co-operated' with police. "What happened that happened in heat of the moment," Aaftab Poonawala said in court, according to his lawyer.
On Monday, the authorities told the court Poonawala - who will also be administered a narco analysis test after discrepancies in earlier statements - continues to mislead investigators.
Narco analysis - or truth serum - involves intravenous administration of a drug like sodium pentothal that lowers inhibitions and makes the subject more likely to divulge information. The results of neither test are admissible as evidence.
The court, after listening to both sides, extended police custody of Poonawala by four days and accepted a plea to conduct a polygraph, or lie detector test.
READ | Delhi murder: Court extends Poonawala's custody, allows polygraph test
The murder - planned?
On Sunday, sources said Poonawala and Walkar had a heated argument about their relationship three days after they moved into a rented flat in Chhatarpur in May this year.
The argument turned physical and she was strangled - in a fit of rage and without any prior planning, police said quoting Poonawala's disclosure.
However, the police also said everything he did after - chopping up the body, disposing of the pieces after midnight and keeping her social media accounts alive - was planned.
He reportedly told police he knew removing the body as it was might be risky, so he decided to cut it into pieces and dispose parts across the city.
READ | Aaftab killed Shraddha in heat of moment, but planned disposal: Police
To do so, he bought hacksaws and plastic bags, and then purchased a refrigerator for ₹19,000 to store the parts during disposal.
"The fridge was delivered to his flat within an hour. He made sure the labourers who carried it did not enter the flat," an officer, requesting anonymity, said.
Also, to mask the smell of the decaying body, Poonawala bought incense sticks and lit them across the flat for several days.
Poonawala also claimed to have used acid and floor-cleaning chemicals to clean up the kitchen, bathroom, floors and the fridge; police found traces anyway.
Another woman?
Poonawala also claimed to have met another woman - and begun a relationship with her - on the same dating app on which he met Walkar - Bumble.
She reportedly even visited the Chhatarpur flat - after Walkar was killed and while her body was stored in the fridge.
The US-headquartered company has offered to help Delhi Police.
READ | Police to ask Bumble if Aaftab met another woman before murder
Officers aware of the investigation told Hindustan Times last week Poonawala confessed to throwing some parts into a pond in south Delhi's Maidan Garhi.
READ | Delhi murder: Cops draining pond near Chhattarpur in search for skull
Authorities have begun draining the water body but its size - 2.5 acres - is a problem. It is also barely 500 metres from where Poonawala and Walker lived.
Police have also recovered pieces of a skull from a Chattarpur forest. These have been sent for analysis - to ascertain if they are a) human and b) Walkar's.
With input from ANI
