The Delhi Police is now gathering evidence from spots that Aftab Poonawalla and his victim Shraddha Walkar visited over the days preceding the latter’s murder. Shraddha, an aspiring journalist was strangled by her live-in partner Aftab on May 18. He then chopped 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 city over several days past midnight.
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The couple used to have frequent arguments over financial matters. Police suspect the couple fought over one such matter that resulted in Aftab killing Shraddha on the evening of May 18.
Now, police teams have been sent to locations that the couple visited in the past few months. Statements of people are also being recorded from the locations.
One of the police teams was sent to Vashisht cave on the banks of the Ganga near Shivpuri in Uttarakhand. The couple visited the cave just a few days before the murder.
On May 4, Shraddha posted a reel: “After a long tiring day of travelling 1500 kms i decided to end my day with a view, possibly a sunset. Walked down to the banks of Ganga in Vashisht gufa. Who knew that this was a calling for me, sitting at the absolute serene banks of Ganga, smoking a doob and getting lost in its beauty. [sic]” A “doob” is a slang for a marijuana cigarette.
This was the only reel she posted.
Her last Instagram post came a few days later on May 11, in which she can be seen reading a book. She tagged the location as ‘Garden Café’ (in Himachal Pradesh). The police may visit this eatery as well.
Police said that after the murder, Aftab went to Mumbai and then to Dehradun. Aftab allegedly dumped Shraddha’s mobile phone in Maharashtra. The police are investigating locations in Delhi, Gurugram, and Mumbai as well to verify the chain of events in the days following Shraddha’s murder.
(With inputs from Manoj Verma and Varun Jain)
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