Mehrauli murder: Accused taken to spot where body parts disposed of

The Delhi Police on Tuesday took the 28yearold accused of killing his livein partner to the jungle areas of south Delhis Chhatarpur where he had allegedly dumped her body partsA senior police official said the accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala will be taken to some other places in the city besides the Chhattarpur jungle area as part of their probe into the murderAs Poonawala his case covered with a white cloth was taken to the wooded area surrounded by police personnel camera crews and journalists jostled with each otherThe ire over the gruesome killing seemed to spill over with a woman at the spot asking Poonawala if he was ashamed of his actionsPoonawala had told the police during investigation that he killed his livein partner Shraddha Walkar after a quarrel over marriage and the idea of chopping her body into 35 pieces was inspired by Dexter an American crime TV seriesAlso read Butcher of Delhi honed his chopping skills in Mumbais 5starHe bought a fridge to preserve the body parts and used to step out past midnight to dispose them of The accused meticulously planned which ones to dispose of first depending upon which part starts decomposing at the earliest the police saidAccording to police officials 13 body parts were found after the accused pinpointed the areas where he had thrown them but only after their forensic examination it can be confirmed if they belong to the victimThey are yet to find the murder weaponPoonawala and Walkar had met each other through an online dating application Later they started working for the same call centre in Mumbai and fell in loveBut their families objected to the relationship as they belong to different faiths prompting the couple to move to Mehrauli earlier this year the officials saidAround midMay the couple had an argument over marriage which escalated and Poonawala killed her Ankit Chauhan Additional DCPI South district had saidThe accused then cut her body into over 35 pieces He bought a 300litre fridge to preserve the body parts and stocked up on incense sticks and room freshenersHe disposed of the pieces in different parts of the city over several days He used to step out past midnight to dump the severed body parts he addedChauhan said the woman was not on talking terms with her family due to their differences over her relationship with PoonawalaThe complaint by the victims father alleged that Poonawala used to beat Walkar on several occasions and that she had informed her family about it earlierThe womans father called the accused up but was told that the couple had parted ways sometime back Unable to contact his daughter the man then filed a missing complaint Chauhan saidAfter receiving the complaint the Mumbai Police traced her last location to Delhi and also called Poonawala whose contradictory statements raised suspicion prompting them to rope in Delhi PoliceMumbai Police took out Call Detail Record CDR of Poonawala and Walkar and found her mobile was switched off since May Then we called up Poonawala and inquired with him as well as his statement was recordedHe earlier said they were residing in Chattarpur locality in Delhi but in May she left his place after some fight between them When police found some contradiction in his statement they informed the Delhi Police and transferred all her details to them a senior Mumbai police official saidOn November 8 Mumbai Police reported at Mehrauli police station regarding the missing woman During the investigation a raid was conducted at Poonawalas residence and he was detainedInitially he said that they both had some arguments and she left him Later during sustained interrogation Poonawala disclosed that he and the deceased were in a livein relationship since 2019 They had frequent fightsOn May 18 the accused and the victim had some arguments She was shouting due to which he covered her mouth with his hand Later he strangulated her cut the body into parts and disposed of them in a nearby jungle area a senior Delhi Police official saidPoonawala has been remanded in a fiveday police custodyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever