Did Aftab learn from two Mumbai horror murders?

Aftab Poonawala, the Delhi killer

While the brutal murder of Shraddha Walkar has shaken the country now, two gory murders rocked the city two years back. All the three crimes have similarities - the killers chopped up the body into multiple pieces for easy disposal. Other similarities appear in the use of incense sticks and disinfectants, and renting of flat days before the murder.

Aftab Poonawala killed his live-in partner Walkar and dismembered her body into dozens of pieces. The 28-year-old then went out and bought a refrigerator to store her remains, which he disposed of in a nearby jungle at Mehrauli, Delhi, in over three months.

Also read: With ply-cutter and loud music, Aftab hacked body over four days

Locals near a pond where Aftab Poonawala dumped Shraddha Walkar's head and some other remains, in Chhatarpur, Delhi, on Monday. Pic/PTI

Poonawala also bought disinfectants to clean the bloodstains in his flat, which he had rented just three days ago, according to sources in the Delhi police. Until he kept Walkar's remains at home, he burnt incense sticks to suppress the odour of the slowly rotting human body.

The Virar murder

In January 2019, Virar residents had noticed human flesh in the drain and the investigation has led the Arnala police to a gruesome murder of Ganesh Kolhatkar allegedly by stockbroker Pintoo Sharma.

Sharma, who lived in Santacruz East, had rented a flat in Virar where he took his friend Kolhatkar and killed him, according to police. He used hacksaw blades, spanners, etc. to dismember his body, and then chopped it into tiny pieces, which he flushed down the toilet.

Every morning for the next three days, Sharma would take a train to Virar to flush the boneless remains of Kolhatkar. He would wrap up the bones in paper and plastic bags, which he would throw in Bhayandar creek while returning home in the evenings. Sharma had purchased floor cleaners and sanitisers to clear bloodstains on the floor.

The Mahim murder

In December 2019, the Mahim police recovered a suitcase on the beach, and inside it, they found hacked limbs of a man along with clothes. The tags on the clothes helped them to identify the victim - a guitarist from Vakola,
Bennett Rebello.

During interrogation of a girl, police learnt that she was an adopted child of Rebello, who would allegedly sexually abuse her. The girl told the cops that she and her boyfriend killed him because of the abuse.

The duo then purchased plastic bags, room fresheners, etc. from a local market in Kalina. They chopped his body, stuffed the dismembered parts in suitcases, which they then dumped in Mithi river, in November 2019.

At the time of these murders, Poonawala was staying in a rented flat in Vasai.

Similarities?

Like the Rebello killers, Poonawala had also purchased incense sticks and room fresheners to suppress the stench of rotting
human flesh.

Both Sharma and Poonawala murdered their victims in a flat that they had rented just a few days ago.

Jan 2019
When Virar victim's murder came to light