Aaftab Poonawala Was Friends With Several Women; Live-In Partner Suspected He Was Cheating: Charge Sheet

Aaftab Amin Poonawala has disclosed that he was friends with several women, including one in Dubai, and his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar doubted his fidelity which led to arguments between them, the Delhi Police claimed in its charge sheet in the Mehrauli murder case.

Poonawala, who is accused of strangling Walkar and disposing her body after chopping it into pieces, had attended a two-week "butchering course" while he was pursuing his diploma in hotel management in Mumbai, according to it.

Walkar also told one of the witnesses examined by police that she used to take frequent leave from work on the pretext of illness because Poonawala used to beat her, the charge sheet said.

Poonawala disclosed that he had "friendship" with several women, including a woman residing in Dubai, police said in its charge sheet and added that he was also friends with a woman residing in Nagpur and another living in Gurugram.

"Walkar doubted that he was cheating on her and he also disclosed that it was the main issue of his quarrel with Walkar. He disclosed that he used to beat her over these issues," the charge sheet said.

It said Poonwala after Walkar's death became friends with a woman. "He had shifted Walkar's dismembered body from a refrigerator (after cleaning it) to the kitchen cabinet when she visited the accused's residence," the charge sheet said.

"Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Rohini, team inspected the room, washroom, fridge and kitchen of the flat and found blood spots at the back side of the plyboard of the lower kitchen cabinet where the accused used to keep the pieces of the dead body whenever his new friend… used to visit him at his flat," the charge sheet said.

"Whenever…(Poonawala's friend) used to visit my flat I used to clean the refrigerator and used to put the body parts of Walkar in the lower cabinet of the kitchen. After her departure, I used to keep the remaining body parts that is the head, torso and both forearms in the refrigerator," the charge sheet said quoting Poonawala.

Poonawala had even gifted her Walkar's silver ring to his "new friend", the charge sheet said.

"On November 11, 2022… (she)...joined the investigation and handed over the silver ring and stated that this was the same ring that Poonawala gifted to her. Later on, the said ring was identified by (two of her friends) during test identification proceedings (TIP) as the Walkar's ring," it said.

It claimed Poonawala also stated the circumstances under which Walkar had filed a complaint against him in Mumbai.

According to the charge sheet, Walkar used to work at a call centre in Mumbai and told her team leader that she was unable to come to office as Poonawala had beaten her.

"Walkar also told him that she used to take frequent leave because of beatings of Poonawala and used to pretend of being ill. On March 18, 2021, she left the job," it said.

It said that one of Walkar's friends told police that in July 2021, she informed him that Poonawala would kill her if she stayed with him.

"From the statement…, it is evident that the accused, Poonawala, was frequently violent with Walkar and their relationship was not healthy," the charge sheet said.

It also claimed that during the initial inquiry, Poonawala was "evasive" in his replies and informed police that Walkar had left him and gone to an unknown place on May 5 last year.

Walkar came back the next month and took away her belongings, following which Poonawala had no contact with her, the chargesheet said citing his earlier statement.

"During this initial inquiry, he was evasive in his reply and despite the fact that Walkar was with him for the last so many years, he was not able to tell as to where she had gone after June 13 and further, he did not inform either family members of Walkar or any common friend. Hence, a reasonable suspicion arose," the charge sheet said.