The Mehrauli police in Delhi, while investigating the brutal murder of Shraddha Walkar, have found several loopholes in the way the Manikpur police in Vasai dealt with the missing person’s report filed by Walkar’s family. The Vasai police, after getting the complaint on October 12, had contacted her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala on October 20, asking him to record his statement on October 23. The Delhi cops claim, this call alerted Poonawala to start destroying evidence, such as dumping Walkar’s phone in Vasai creek. 

The cops learnt that Walkar’s phone was active between October 20 and 23, before Poonawala went to Manikpur police station to record his statement. Officers also said that when Poonawala visited the Manikpur police station, he was very calm and confident, so the cops didn’t suspect anything. “The police officers there didn’t check his mobile phone which should have been scanned properly, especially as Walkar’s father had named him as a suspect in the missing person’s report. At the time, Poonawala claimed that Walkar broke up with him and left,” a Delhi police officer said.