5 cases that rocked the capital, kept Delhi Police on their toes in 2022

The gruesome murder of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar in South Delhi’s Mehrauli kept investigators across police stations busy for weeks. Though they had caught the alleged killer Aaftab Poonawala, and got his confession, they had little else to prove his involvement – be it the body or the murder weapon.

Walkar was allegedly strangled to death and her body was chopped into 30-35 pieces, allegedly by Aaftab, her live-in partner, in May. The matter only came to light last month after Walkar’s father approached Mumbai Police with a missing persons complaint. The case was then transferred to Delhi Police as the couple were last seen in Delhi this year.

Police arrested Poonawaala from their rented accommodation and claimed they had seized the fridge that was used to store the chopped body parts. Poonawaala’s statement to the police was full of shocking details – from living with chopped body parts, to taking inspiration from the TV show Dexter to bringing another date to the same house not long after.

Several raids were conducted across Mehrauli forest, Gurgaon, Delhi outskirts, Mumbai, Palghar and other places to look for evidence. Police recently stated that some of the recovered bones and blood traces match DNA taken from Walkar’s father.

Another case, similar modus operandi

Soon after the Walkar case, the murder of 45-year-old Anjan Das was reported from East Delhi’s Pandav Nagar. Das was also murdered in May this year, but the case was reported on November 28. His body had been chopped into roughly 10 pieces and the parts were dumped in Trilokpuri and nearby forest areas.

Nobody had lodged a missing persons report, and while his body had been found by the police in May, it was decomposed and police couldn’t identify the deceased. Later, teams of Crime Branch started analysing CCTVs and conducted local enquiry and found Das had been missing. His wife Poonam and his stepson Deepak were eventually arrested after detailed questioning. They revealed that the deceased had allegedly molested Deepak’s wife and often fought with the family over money. The duo planned the murder, sedated him and slit his neck before chopping his body.

Triple suicide, sealed and shut

In May, a case of triple suicide in a small Vasant Vihar house shocked investigators as the deceased had made an elaborate plan to kill themselves. 54-year-old Manju Devi and her two daughters Ankita (30) and Anshika (26) were found dead at their house on May 21. The women had locked the doors and windows from the inside and the house was sealed with aluminium foil and tapes. Police had found the women died of asphyxia as 4 angithis in the room were lit and the gas cylinder was left open.

The women left four suicide notes stating that they were upset after Manju’s husband’s death due to Covid a year before. They left a “warning” sign on the door and also placed posters saying “gas chamber” and “don’t light match or use fan” inside the house, so whoever discovered their bodies would not be hurt.

Acid attack on city teen

A 17-year-old Class 12th student was on her way to her school when two bike-borne men threw acid on her in Dwarka on December 14. The incident led to widespread outrage over the sale of acid and laws protecting acid attack victims. The minor was with her younger sister when acid was thrown on her face.

The Delhi Police arrested three men in the case and said that one of the accused was upset that the girl had ended her friendship with him, and wanted revenge. He had watched crime shows on YouTube and other platforms and decided to attack the girl with acid. Police said he bought the acid on Flipkart, an e-commerce website. The website later took action against the vendor and said they were helping police with the investigation.

The girl is stable, though she sustained 8% burn injuries on her face, eyes and neck.

Sukesh Chandrasekhar rise to infamy

The alleged conman, who is lodged in jail in a 200-crore money laundering case, wrote several public notices alleging Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Tihar DG Sandeep Goel were extorting him in lieu of providing him better services inside prison. Days later, Goel was removed from his post and later suspended.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, called Bollywood actor/dancer Nora Fatehi and former TV host Pinky Irani in connection with the case. The ED chargesheet also mentioned that Irani helped Sukesh by contacting Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez and allegedly gifting her expensive bags and accessories on his behalf.

Irani has since been arrested by the police, while Fernandez has been called multiple times for questioning in connection with the case.

Sukesh’s influence inside the prison, meanwhile, has been significantly curtailed, senior officers say.