Poonawala’s post-narco question session completed

NEW DELHI, (PTI): The post-narco analysis session of Aaftab Amin Poonawala, the accused in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, was completed within two-hours on Friday, officials said.

A four-member team of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the investigating officer arrived at the Tihar Jail in New Delhi for a ‘post-test interview’ with Poonawala.

The interview in Central Jail No. 4 was expected to start from 10 am and go on till 3 pm, but it was delayed. The team reached the prison around 11.30 am and the entire session went on for about 1 hours and 40 minutes.

After the session, Poonawala was informed about the replies he gave in his narco analysis test on Thursday. This arrangement was made as per a court order in view of the risks involved in his transportation, the officials said.

Poonawala’s narco analysis test, which went on for more than two hours at a Rohini hospital, was completely successful.

Sources in the FSL had earlier said the answers the accused gave during the narco test and a polygraph test held earlier would be analysed, and he would be informed about his replies as well.

Poonawala, 28, allegedly strangled his live-in partner and cut her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the metropolis over several days.

Narco analysis involves intravenous administration of a drug, such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine and sodium amytal, causing the person undergoing it to enter into various stages of anaesthesia.

In the hypnotic stage, the person becomes less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state.

Investigating agencies use this test after other pieces of evidence do not provide a clear picture of a case.

The Delhi Police had earlier said it sought Poonawala’s narco analysis test as his responses during interrogation were ”deceptive” in nature.

The Supreme Court has ruled that narco analysis, brain mapping, and polygraph tests cannot be conducted on any person without his or her consent.

Statements made during this test are not admissible as primary evidence in the court, except under certain circumstances when the bench thinks that the facts and nature of the case permit it.

Poonawala was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days on November 17. The court on November 26 sent him to judicial custody for 13 days. (PTI)