Aftab Poonawala Denies Murder Charge as Court Frames Charges Against Him

New Delhi: Delhi’s Saket court on Tuesday framed charges against Aftab Poonawala, accused of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into pieces. The court after examining evidence produced by the Delhi police booked Poonawala under Sections 302 (murder) 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. Poonawala, however, denied the charges leveled against him and demanded a trial. The next hearing of the matter will be on June 1.

The Delhi Police filed a 6,629-page charge sheet in the case on January 24.

Shraddha was allegedly strangled by to death by Aftab Poonawala on May 18, 2022. Then he chopped her body into pieces and kept them in a fridge for almost three weeks at his home in south Delhi’s Mehrauli. He scattered the body pieces at different places in and around Delhi. Aftab was nabbed on November 12, 2022.

The Delhi Police conducted a narco-analysis test, a polygraph test, and collected DNA evidence to prove the case against Poonawala. More than 150 witnesses were reportedly examined and their statements have been recorded.