Body parts: Police visits Mehrauli forest with 'butcher' Aaftab

New Delhi:Delhi Police on Tuesday along with accused, Aaftab Poonawala, conducted spot visits to Mehrauli forested area where he allegedly had dumped parts of his live-in partner after strangling her to death, said a police official.

The police are trying to find evidence from the spot to connect the dots of the crime, an official said on condition of anonymity as the investigators traced Shraddha Walkar’s body parts. Police plan to question Poonawala and Walkar’s common friends, who may have first raised the red flag after she was MIA for over two months.

According to the police, the accused allegedly chopped off his live-in partner into 35 pieces and disposed them off over a long period since May this year at various places before being finally arrested from Delhi.

The crime came to light six months after the murder of the 27-year-old and Poonawala was arrested on November 12.He allegedly told the police that he dumped the chopped parts in the forest area near Chhattarpur where the two had been staying. He allegedly spent two to three months dumping the pieces.

During the course of his interrogation, Aaftab told the police that he and the deceased were in a live-in relationship since 2019. They both were from Maharashtra and originally met via dating app.

Shraddha's father told news channels on Tuesday: “If Aaftab has done everything he has claimed, he should be hanged. He should get stringent punishment for killing my daughter and hiding everything for months.""I wish we knew what was going on…It was her friends who informed us…(she was) missing,” said Vikas Walkar.

Shraddha was allegedly killed by Aaftab at their rented flat in South Delhi in May soon after moving to Delhi.Additional DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan told the media: “The accused has been interrogated and he revealed that the two would often fight over petty issues. They shifted to Delhi in May and after a few days, they again got into a fight.

"The accused is stated to have strangled her. We have recovered suspected body pieces from the forest. Our priority is to recover the body parts and get confirmation from forensic reports. The accused is in police custody.”

Shraddha lost her mother two years back. She had her father and brother but apparently their was not much of communication.“She was a different person before she met Poonawala. She was sweet and ambitious. I don’t know what happened but she changed after she met him," Vikas Walker told tv channels.

"She stopped talking to me. I knew she was in a toxic relationship with that boy. I tried stopping her but she wouldn’t listen,” the father said."We last spoke over the phone in 2021. I don’t even remember the conversation. I had told her to not leave Mumbai…,” he added.

Shraddha and Aftab apparently visited hill stations in March and April and then decided to stay in Delhi.On November 8, the staff of Police Station Manik Pur, Mumbai reported at Mehrauli police station, Delhi regarding the disappearance of a woman.

They said the missing woman was staying along with Aaftab at Chhattarpur Pahadi area and went missing from the area.On November 9, a missing report of the woman was lodged at Mehrauli Police Station, earlier police said.

During initial inquiry, the family members of the missing woman were contacted and details were sought.Her father stated that on September14, his son was informed by his daughter’s friend that there was no contact with Shraddha for the past two and half months, and her mobile phone was also switched off.

After that, he lodged a missing report of his daughter at Police Station Manikpur, Maharashtra. On his statement, a case was registered at Mehrauli Police Station in Delhi and investigation was taken up, police added.

The father and brother accompanied the police to the Mehrauli forest area on Tuesday to look for body pieces.The family now rues thinking Shraddha was just ignoring them.(UNI)