Shraddha murder case | Father suspects ‘love jihad’ angle, demands death penalty for Aftab

The Delhi Police have so far recovered 13 body parts which the accused disposed of them in the forest nearby over a period of three months.

The father of the Maharashtra girl, Shraddha Walker, who was allegedly murdered by her live-in partner, Aftab Poonawala, in the national capital, on Tuesday, Novembe 15, 2022, demanded a death penalty for the accused while also suspecting a "love jihad" angle behind the incident.

Speaking to ANI, Shraddha’s father, Vikas Walker said, “I suspected a love jihad angle. We demand the death penalty for Aftab. I trust Delhi Police and the probe moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn’t talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the first complaint in Mumbai’s Vasai.”

Delhi Police probe into the Shraddha Walker murder case has revealed that the accused Aftab Poonawalla was a food blogger who used to work at a call centre in the national capital. The police are now investigating if he had rented a flat in Delhi's Chhatarpur area as part of a conspiracy to kill the victim. The police investigation has also revealed that the couple had frequent fights. According to police sources, before shifting to Delhi in 2022, the couple had come into a relationship in 2019. They stayed in Maharashtra for some time but used to visit various places as part of their travel plans.

According to the police, they went to hill stations in March-April. Both of them had travelled to Himachal Pradesh for a few days in May and stayed together where they met a man who lived in Delhi's Chhatarpur. As per reports, upon shifting to Delhi, they had initially stayed at the flat of the same man whom they met in Himachal. However, the stay did not change the situation between them. Later, Aftab rented a flat in Chhatarpur where he shifted with Shraddha. She was reportedly strangled to death on May 18 in the Chhatarpur flat.

The police have come to know that the room was taken on rent a few days before the murder.

"It is also a matter of investigation whether Aftab had already hatched a conspiracy to kill her," the police sources said.

The accused told the police during interrogation that he used to take the pieces of the dead body to the disposal at 2:00 am due to the little movement of people at this hour. The police have come to know that the accused Aftab has done his graduation and lived in Mumbai with his family. "Looking at Aftab's social media, it is known that he had also done food blogging for some time, although no video had come about his blogging for a long time. His last post came in the month of February, after which there was no activity on the profile. He has more than 28,000 followers on his Instagram," the sources said.