The Delhi Police has recovered some CCTV footage from the south Delhi locality where 26-year-old Shraddha Walkar was killed, allegedly by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, on 18 May.
A senior Delhi Police officer told The Quint, "CCTV mapping of the area will be conducted. The footage recovered is six months old. It will be used to ascertain the route that the accused took from his residence to the places where he dumped parts of the victim's body."
The Delhi Police source said that days after the incident, Poonawala transferred Rs 54,000 from Walkar's account to his. "We are yet to ascertain what this money was used for, and if it was used to pay Walkar's pending bills. It's all a matter of investigation," said the source.
Four days after the accused's arrest, what all has the Delhi Police recovered? The Quint finds out.
'Accused Threw Blood-Stained Clothes in a Garbage Van': Delhi Police Source
For the last three days, several teams of the Delhi Police have been going to the jungles of Mehrauli – merely 300 metres away from the house in south Delhi's Chhattarpur Pahari which the couple had taken on rent in May this year.
The Delhi Police has not yet recovered Walkar's head or torso. Nor has the weapon – a foot-long mini saw – allegedly used to chop off her body been found yet. Walkar's phone too has not been recovered.
Walkar's father, Vikas, a Mumbai-based businessman had told The Quint that he and his son accompanied the Delhi Police to the jungles of Mehrauli on day one of the search.
"So far, 10-13 bones have been found. It's a six-month-old incident so it will take time. There is no tissue on the bones. The forensic team will establish if these bones even belong to Walkar or not."A Police Source
On 15 November, the police submitted a plea in the Saket court to conduct a "narco-analysis" of Poonawala.
The source said the Forensic Science Lab (FSL) team has "picked up traces of blood from the kitchen of the rented house." DNA samples of Walkar's father and brother have been taken to establish any match.
Walkar and Poonawala's blood-stained clothes have not been recovered yet. The source said, "Preliminary interrogation suggests that the accused threw the clothes in a moving garbage van in May."
The Delhi Police has recovered a bag "with Walkar's articles in it" inside the rented house, claimed the source. The bag will be shown to the victim's family to determine if it did in fact belong to her.
Accused Went to Mumbai in September When Victim's Father Filed 'Missing' Complaint
For six months, Walkar's family and friends in Mumbai – where she hailed from – did not know that she had been killed. On 12 November, Poonawala was arrested by the Delhi Police, and allegedly confessed to strangling her to death, chopping her body into at least 35 parts, and dumping them across 18 locations in Delhi over a span of two months.
Mumbai-based Walkar and Poonawala met on a dating app in 2019 and had been together since. They moved to Delhi in May this year, and rented a house for Rs 9,000 a month in south Delhi's Chhattarpur Pahari area. As per the police, within three days of moving there, Poonawala allegedly killed Walkar.
Additional DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan had earlier told The Quint that the couple allegedly often fought. "On the day of the incident, they fought as Walkar suspected Poonawala of infidelity," said Chauhan.
A senior police source claimed that during the interrogation, Poonawala said that on the day of the incident, "the couple fought over who would manage home expenses and buy things of daily use." The police source also said that the accused claimed that the two fought over "who will go to Mumbai to bring back their luggage as they were facing a financial crunch since both had quit their job in Mumbai before moving to Delhi."
The matter came to light when the case of a 'missing' complaint – filed by Walkar's father in Mumbai – was transferred to Delhi Police in November.
"The last time I spoke to my daughter was in mid-2021. I had no idea that she was being beaten up. Her friends told me this. They told me they had not spoken to her in months, her phone was switched off, and that she was not active on social media."Vikas Walkar, father of the victim
"I went to the Mumbai police after that," Walkar's father had told The Quint on Tuesday, 15 November.
When the 'missing' person complaint was filed in September in Mumbai, Poonawala was called to the city by the Mumbai police. "He went there and told the police that the couple had broken up and that she had left him. He told the police that he had not been in touch with her since then," said a police source.
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