Shraddha murder: Police finds CCTV footage showing Aftab walking with a bag on Delhi street

NEW DELHI, (ANI): In the latest development in the horrific Shraddha Walkar murder case, Delhi Police have found CCTV footage showing the accused Aftab Amin Poonawalla carrying a bag on a street outside his house in Delhi during the wee hours.

Official sources said that the CCTV footage is from October 18, and Aftab made three trips with the bag.

“The police believe that Aftab was out with the bag to dispose of the body parts of Shraddha five months after the murder. He had stashed them in a fridge before disposing them off in and around the national capital,” they said while adding that the authenticity of the video is also being checked. “The accused had disposed of the head, torso and hands on October 18,” they added.

Delhi Police teams continued with their search in Mehrauli forest area on Saturday in its bid to find the missing critical evidence in the case. According to official sources, a team of Delhi Police reached Aftab’s flat in Chattarpur area of Delhi and seized clothes belonging to both the accused and the deceased as part of its investigation into the horrific murder.

“All the clothes from the house have been seized. Most of the clothes belong to Aftab,” police sources said while adding that the seized clothes will be sent for forensic examination. The police is however yet to recover the clothes of Aftab and Shraddha that the two were wearing on the day of the murder.

A police team also reached Aftab’s workplace in Gurugram on Friday and conducted a thorough search for the weapon Aftab used for chopping off Shraddha’s body. Metal detectors were also used to search the premises. Though no concrete evidence was found during the search, the police team reportedly found a small cutting tool.

“The search was carried out as part of the investigation to recover the clothes of the victim and weapon,” said sources, while adding that the tool did not seem to be the one used by the accused. Delhi Police said that the accused was arrested on November 11, and taken on five days’ police remand, and it was further extended for another five days on November 17.

“So far, the accused’s rented accommodation in Chattarpur area in Mehrauli police station limits has been closely inspected by Crime Team and experts from FSL, Rohini. From the place, multiple exhibits have been seized,” the police said in a statement. “Following up on the disclosures, various combing operations have been so far carried out at various places, including some forest areas, from where severed bones have been seized,” the police said.

A Narco-analysis test of the accused is also to be conducted in due course of the investigation, officials said. Multiple teams of Delhi police are camping outstation to recreate the lives of the accused and the deceased together.

“Similarly, multiple teams are carrying out search operations to recover the missing skeletal remains,” the police said while adding that several inter-disciplinary teams are also working round the clock for documenting, finding discrepancies and further refining the versions and the motives being put forth by the accused. Delhi Police last week cracked the six-month-old blind murder case and arrested Aftab Amin Poonawalla on the basis of Shraddha’s father’s complaint. Aftab and Shraddha met on a dating site and later moved in together in a rented accommodation in Chhatarpur.

Delhi Police received a complaint from Shraddha’s father and registered an FIR on November 10. Delhi Police interrogation revealed that Aftab Poonawalla killed Shraddha on May 18 and later started planning to dispose of her body. He told police that he had read about human anatomy so that it could help him in chopping off the body.

Police said that Aftab, after searching on Google, cleaned bloodstains from the floor with some chemicals and disposed of the stained clothes. He shifted the body in the bathroom and bought a refrigerator from a nearby shop. Later, he chopped the body into small pieces and put them in the fridge.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court has ordered Rohini Forensic Science Lab to conduct a narco test of accused Aftab Poonawala within five days. (ANI)