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This is an archive article published on November 14, 2022
Inspired by ‘Dexter’, man who killed girlfriend bought fridge to store chopped body parts, fresheners to hide smell: Delhi Police
Police arrested Aftab Poonawala, 28, Saturday for killing Shraddha Walkar, 27. On May 18, the two got into a fight and the accused strangled the woman, said the police.
Victim Shraddha Walkar and accused Aftab Poonawala.
The man, who killed his live-in partner after an argument over marriage in May, cut her body into pieces and disposed them off over the next two to three months in a forest area of the city, Delhi Police sources said Monday.
Police arrested Aftab Poonawala, 28, Saturday for killing Shraddha Walkar, 27. On May 18, the two got into a fight and the accused strangled the woman, said the police. They had been fighting because Walkar wanted him to marry her. “He told us during the interrogation that he wanted to silence her but she died. He kept the body at his home for two days,” said a police officer.
Poonawala allegedly told the police he was inspired by the US television crime series Dexter. “He followed what the main character did to chop the body and discard it,” said the source.
According to police sources, Poonawala hacked Walkar’s body and kept the parts in small black poly bags. “He bought a new fridge and a saw. He used it to chop the body in pieces,” said a source.
To remove the stench of the body from the rented flat in the Chattarpur Pahadi area where they lived, Poonawala bought room fresheners, agarbattis or incense sticks, and other items.
On a table, a bowl of potpourri still remained, used to mask the stench. (Express photo by Jignasa Sinha)
He made multiple trips to the Mehrauli area over the next two to three months and emptied the packets with chopped body parts. “We have been told that he removed the intestines first so that it could decompose easily,” added the source.
The police said Poonawala, who worked in a call centre in Gurgaon, was arrested after Walkar’s family lodged a case against him. The woman’s family had filed a missing person report in Mumbai after she stopped responding to their calls in May.
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The couple’s one-room flat in Chhatarpur Pahadi area of Mehrauli. (Express Photo by Jignasa Sinha)
They met on a dating app three years ago. Both belonged to Mumbai and had shifted to Delhi a few months ago. “They left Mumbai after their parents didn’t accept their relationship. There had been some issues and the couple decided to go to Rishikesh for a trip before settling in Delhi,” said the officer.
The police are yet to recover the body of Walkar.
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