Shraddha Murder Case Accused Aftab Poonawalla Withdraws Bail Plea
A Delhi court dismissed accused Aftab Poonawalla's bail plea as it was withdrawn and not pressed. Earlier, Aftab said he was not aware that his advocate was going to file a bail plea on his behalf.
New Delhi: Aftab Amin Poonawalla, accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into pieces, withdrew his bail plea on Thursday. Delhi's Saket court dismissed accused Aftab Poonawalla's bail plea as it was withdrawn and not pressed.
According to news agency PTI, Poonawalla appeared before the court through video-conferencing and said that he wished to withdraw the bail application which was filed before the court on December 15.
His private advocate MS Khan informed the court that the bail application was moved because of "miscommunication" between him and the accused.
"Bail petition dismissed as withdrawn and not pressed," Additional Sessions Judge Vrinda Kumari said, as quoted by PTI.
"The chargesheet has not been filed yet but Aftab's bail application filed. Aftab denied giving permission to his advocate to file for bail. His advocate should have stood for humanity first and then for a criminal. However, today he withdrew the bail application," said advocate Seema Kushwaha representing Shraddha's father, as quoted by news agency ANI.
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In the last hearing on December 17, Aftab Poonawalla's advocate sought time to seek instructions from his client.
As per PTI, Aftab had informed the court through an email that though he signed the vakalatnama, he was not aware that his advocate was going to file a bail plea on his behalf.
He had moved an application to the court seeking bail on December 16.
On December 9, the court extended Aftab Poonawalla's judicial custody for 14 days. He was arrested on November 12 and is currently lodged in the Tihar Jail.
The Special Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Sagar Preet Hooda had said that police have received the DNA test report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) and the polygraph test from the FSL, Rohini.
He refrained from officially announcing the death of Walkar as the third, narco-test report was still awaited.
The post-narco test of Aftab Poonawalla was also concluded on December 2. His test was conducted inside the Tihar Jail by the FSL officials. Poonawalla's polygraph test report was submitted to the police by the Forensic Sciences Lab (FSL) on Wednesday.
The Delhi Police teams investigating the case had recovered 13 bone pieces after the accused told the investigators that he chopped her body into 35 pieces and dumped them into the forest area. Blood samples were also recovered from the bathroom and kitchen in the Chattarpur house, where both Aftab and Walkar had shifted on May 15, three days before her murder.
Aftab Poonawalla, 28, allegedly sawed Walkar's body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days.
His judicial custody was extended by 14 days on December 9.
(With Agency Inputs)
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