Shraddha murder case: 'Sitting on her chest, I held her throat tight with both my hands until she died': Chargesheet reveals Aftab's statement
New Delhi, February 7: The Delhi Police, in its chargesheet, has disclosed gory details of the murder of Shraddha Walkar and how Aftab Poonawala, the accused in the case, committed the crime.
The Delhi Police have also detailed Aftab's activities after the murder, including his execution of plans to dispose of Shraddha Walker's body.
The chargesheet reveals how the accused strangled Shraddha and how he disposed of the body parts one by one. The chargesheet says "Aftab was of an aggressive nature and used to beat Shraddha on petty issues".
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According to the police, to mislead the investigation, the accused earlier said he used a stone crusher to dispose of Shraddha's bones and after grinding the bones and turning them to powder, he threw them on the road. However, the Delhi Police said he later retracted this statement.
The chargesheet also revealed that his previous disclosure was partially correct and in addition to that disclosure, he further said in his earlier disclosure statement, he had tried to mislead the police by giving a false statement that after murdering Shraddha on May 18, 2022, at a rented accommodation in Chattarpur Pahadi, he cut her body into pieces and burnt the bones of Shraddha and after grinding them with a stone grinder had thrown the powder away.
It is also revealed that he initially tortured and tormented Shraddha who wanted to break up with him, however, she could not because she did not have a support system as she had no contact with her family.
The chargesheet states that Aftab "murdered" Shraddha on the eve of May 18, 2022. Then he bought one saw, three blades, a hammer and plastic clips to cut her body parts and dispose them of. He also bought a refrigerator to store them to avoid the stench.
The Delhi Police chargesheet said the accused shifted the body to the bathroom and cut the body into 17 pieces. On the first day, he cut her wrist and hand. He used to dispose of the body parts one by one.
He also got a cut on his hand while cutting the body of Shraddha, the chargesheet said.
Aftab sat on Shraddha's chest and strangled her to death. He then chopped her body into pieces and stored them in the kitchen and fridge. "To get rid of her habit of quarrelling and abusing forever, I grabbed her and dropped her on the floor to kill her. Sitting on her chest, I held her throat tight with both my hands until she died. Her body was hidden in the bathroom. Then I planned to dispose of her dead body by cutting it into small pieces and putting it in a big briefcase and throwing it somewhere. I also bought a hammer, a horizontal saw and its three blades. After coming home, I cut both hands of Shraddha's dead body with a wrist saw and kept it in polythene in the bathroom," the chargesheet revealed Aftab's statement.
The chargesheet revealed that Aftab purchased disinfectant from a shopping app to clean the blood stains that spread on the floor after chopping the body.
"In the evening, I cut both the legs of Shraddha's body from knees and ankle and packed them in a trash bag and kept the cut body parts in the freezer of the purchased fridge. After cutting the body parts, the blood spread. To clean it, I bought two bottles of Harpic disinfectant, toilet cleaner, and bleach from the shopping app," the chargesheet said.
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Aftab had earlier planned to dispose of the body parts in a briefcase, however, he dropped the plan due to the fear of getting caught while disposing them of.
"On May 20, 2022, I had bought a big red-coloured briefcase from Mehrauli market as part of planning to cut and dispose of the body. But I abandoned this plan for fear of being caught because the briefcase was heavy. Small pieces of her body had to be thrown at different places in the forest. I made the planning again. In the evening, her head and other body parts were cut off from her body, and after taking out her entrails from her stomach, I put them in polythene and in a big dustbin kept at the corner of 60 Futa Road, Chattarpur Pahadi," the chargesheet revealed.
"Other body parts were disposed at various places, including Nallah forest near the cremation ground," it added.
Aftab used petrol to destroy the evidence at different places. He threw her head into the forest months after he killed Shraddha. "I kept her head, torso and both forearms in the freezer for fear of being identified. After this, about three to four months after the incident, after disfiguring her head and face with a blow torch, I cut her hair and erased her identity. Her head, both forearms and torso were thrown in the same Chhattarpur Enclave forest. Her hair and clothes were thrown in a big dustbin placed at the corner of 60 Futa Road, Chattarpur Pahadi," the chargesheet said.
The chargesheet also stated that on December 23, 2022, during the course of the investigation, the exhibits were examined for DNA at CFSL, Lodhi Road, Delhi and Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, for extracting DNA for matching the same with the blood samples of father and brother of Shraddha.
The chargesheet attached Google Analysis where it is established that Shraddha's account was logged in through Aftab's phone post May 18. The chargesheet also attached parallel locations of Aftab's phone and Shraddha's phone post the offence of murder.
The Delhi Police have established through locations that post the murder, the phone of Shraddha was with Aftab. It is also said the parallel locations of the cellphones of accused Aftab and Shraddha have been found to be from June 1, 2022, to June 8, 2022, in Mumbai.
On June 9, 2022, the train route from Mumbai to Delhi via Mathura, Nizamuddin Railway station and from June 10, 2022, to June 19, 2022, in Delhi i.e. Chattarpur Pahari was disclosed through Google location, the police said.
The parallel location chart of the mobile number of aftab and Shraddha after the murder of Shraddha dated May 18 2022, is also attached.
It is also said, "On that day while cutting the wrists of Shraddha, I also got a minor cut on my left hand with saw due to which there was minor bleeding also from my hand." He had placed the polythene containing both the hands of Shraddha in the lower cabinet of the kitchen under the water camper.
On the next night of the murder, he disposed of one thigh part of the body in the jungle of Chattarpur Pahari situated at MG Road, Delhi Police said in the charge sheet.
It is also stated that over the next four-five days, he cut the body in 17 pieces, three pieces of each hand, three pieces of each leg, head, torso, two pieces of pelvis, and thumb, the charge sheet stated.
The police also said he went to Maharashtra to join Shraddha's missing inquiry and on the way, threw her phone, and destroyed her credit card.
Thereafter on 22-23 October, he went to Police Station Manik Pur, District Mira Bhayander, Maharashtra to join the inquiry regarding a missing report of Shraddha that was lodged by her father, the charge sheet said.
On the way, he threw away the phone of Shraddha, her credit cards, debit cards and documents etc in Bhayander Khadi after damaging them as "I was aware that Bhayander Khadi is very deep as I did my schooling at Bhayander."
The Delhi Police also disclosed that Aftab met a girl through an online dating app and she used to visit him. Whenever the girl used to visit him, he would clean the refrigerator and store Shraddha's body parts in the lower cabinet of the kitchen.
On May 13, another girl met Aftab and Shraddha on an online app and helped them get a flat. Post the murder, Aftab told that girl that Shraddha has moved out of the flat and ended their relationship, the chargesheet stated.
It is also stated that he asked the girl to contact Shraddha and find out if she is okay. He also told the girl that Shraddha had blocked him and he is not able to contact her. So asked her to contact Shraddha and find out if she is okay.
The Delhi Police has also enclosed her letter written on November 23, 2020, to Maharashtra police informing that Aftab attempted to kill her.
- ANI