Mehrauli murder: police seek permission to conduct narco test on Aftab

Narco test necessary as accused changing statements, not cooperating, say police; CCTV footage has been recovered from area where he allegedly dumped body parts, but is unclear

The Delhi Police have sought permission from a local court to conduct a narco-analysis test on Aftab Poonawalla, who has been accused of killing his live-in partner and dumping her body parts in a south Delhi forest earlier this year.

On Wednesday, a senior police officer said that the narco test was necessary because Mr. Poonawalla is “changing his statements and not cooperating in the probe”. The police are yet to receive permission for the test from the Saket court, the officer added.

Mr. Poonawalla, 28, is accused of strangulating his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, 27, on May 18. He then allegedly chopped her body into pieces, stored them in a 300-litre fridge and dumped them in the Chhatarpur forest area, near which they used to live, over a period of three months.

A senior police officer said that CCTV footage from the area where the accused used to allegedly go to dump the body parts has been recovered and his movements have been captured. However, his activities in the video grab are not clear, the officer added.

Meanwhile, the search for the remaining body parts of the victim continued for the second consecutive day in the forest area on Wednesday. Delhi Police has so far recovered 13 bones, believed to be the remains of Ms. Walkar, from the forest area so far. “Whether these body parts belong to Shraddha is yet to be established,” said a source at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which is examining the evidence.

The source added that the DNA analysis of the bones recovered from the forest area will take two to four weeks. “First, we have to ascertain whether the bones belong to a human. It is a challenging job because some of the samples are almost six months old,” the source at the FSL also said.

Deepa Verma, FSL director, said the bones that have been recovered are “in abysmal condition. That is why it will be examined and re-examined three to four times. If required, more experts will be called in.”