Bones found in the Chhattarpur forest where Shraddha Walkar’s remains were allegedly dumped are believed to be human and traces of blood have been collected from the flat where the 27-year-old woman lived with her partner Aaftab. Amin Poonawala, the prime suspect in the case, said police officers were aware of the investigation, which has shocked the capital.
These have now been sent for forensic analysis and could provide the first prosecutable evidence against Poonawal, who police said had confessed to the crime under interrogation. However, a police confession is not legally admissible and circumstantial evidence may be insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
By Monday, investigators had recovered 13 pieces of bones from sites behind the Chhattarpur Pahadi crematorium, where Poonawala allegedly said he had dumped parts of Walkar’s body. “No missing body parts were found on Tuesday. The weapon (used to dismember the body) was also not found. However, one of our doctors confirmed that the 13 decomposed bones were indeed human remains. We will send it to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL),” said a police officer, who did not want to be named.
An FSL officer, also privy to the investigation, said forensic teams searching the alleged crime scene — a flat in Chhattarpur — found some traces of blood stains in the kitchen. Samples have been taken and will be taken for examination at a later date. “The fridge was completely clean when our officials went to the apartment to collect the samples. No evidence was collected from the refrigerator. We will try to compare DNA samples from the decomposed bones and match them with the woman’s father. But this process will take at least a week,” the person added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The police officer quoted above added that according to the doctor, the bones appeared to be from the ribs and pelvic area, and blood samples were taken from the wooden cabinets around the kitchen sink and the marble platform. These were collected four days ago but the above FSL officer said the lab is yet to receive them for testing. The reason for the delay was not clear.
“Without the murder weapon, which is yet to be found by the police, it would be difficult for the investigation team to confirm how Walkar was killed and the exact cause of her death. Also linking Poonawala as the alleged killer will also be difficult unless the murder weapon is found,” said an FSL expert.
The court will only accept reports verified by FSL
Walkar is believed to have disappeared in May. Estranged from her family, who opposed her relationship with Poonawala, police say she was killed by her partner on May 18, citing the suspect’s statement.
During questioning, the 28-year-old shared details that will now need to be confirmed – including the murder by strangulation, the gruesome dismemberment of the body into dozens of parts and the careful planning of how the remains were disposed of without seeming to arouse the suspicion of neighbors or passers-by.
On Tuesday, police also recorded the statements of their mutual friend Badri (identified only by one name), who helped them get the apartment they moved into in May, days before the alleged murder.
Poonawala, who works at a call center in Gurugram, was arrested after he allegedly confessed to strangling Shraddha six months ago. However, a confession can only be used as evidence if it is made by the accused in front of a judge.
Police said they will continue to take Poonawala to other locations in the same area where they say he dumped the gun and body parts.
Police officers who are part of the investigation said that the place where he dumped most of the body parts is an open space belonging to the public works department, but over time it has become a jungle and a garbage dump for the locals.
As part of the investigation, the police recorded statements from employees of Home and Kitchen — a shop at 100 Foot Road, Chhattarpur, where Poonawala claimed to have bought a knife on May 19 (the day after the murder) to allegedly cut up the body. However, police say the weapon he allegedly used was more likely a hacksaw or meat cleaver. Some officers described it simply as a “heavy, sharp object”. The store HT visited sells both kitchen knives and saws.
“The police came with a murder accused who said he bought the knife in a shop. My son is sitting in the store with other employees. Nobody remembers him. The CCTV footage is also not available as the man reportedly came to the shop six months ago,” said Sudeep Sachdeva, owner of the shop.
Across the road, the police also visited Tilak Electronics and recorded the statements of employees who sold the LG refrigerator that was allegedly used to store Walkar’s remains. Police said Poonawala paid for the refrigerator through his credit card on May 19.
Unable to find any identifiable body parts or a weapon, police are contacting people who knew the couple. “During the interrogation, he admitted that sometime in August or September he started going on dates. He met a woman who even came to the apartment where he murdered Shraddha. We will contact the woman after we get her details from Poonawala’s call data records,” said the official quoted in the first instance.
“We can also write to Bumble to see if he has also befriended other people in the past 6 months.” They could be of vital help to us,” added the second police officer, referring to the dating app through which Poonawala met Walkar and the other woman.
