Transfer Shraddha murder probe to CBI, advocate asks HC

The petition alleged that the police have so far revealed “each and every detail” of the investigation to the media and public

A plea was on Monday filed in the Delhi High Court seeking transfer of the investigation into the murder of Shraddha Walkar from the Delhi police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The plea alleged that the media and public getting access to the sites of recovery, leading to the possibility of the evidence being tampering.

In a petition, advocate Joshini Tuli alleged that Delhi Police have so far revealed “each and every detail” of the probe to the media and public, which is not permitted by law.

The plea also claimed that the places where evidence was recovered have not been sealed by the police till date, leaving them accessible to the public.

“The incident is alleged to have taken place in Delhi and, thereafter, the body parts are alleged to have been disposed at different places. Thus investigation of by the Mehrauli police station cannot be efficiently carried out due to administrative/staff paucity as well as lack of sufficient technical and scientific equipment to find out evidences and the witnesses as the incident had taken place about six months back in May, 2022,” the petition submitted.

Aftab Poonawala, 28, was arrested for allegedly strangulating his live-in partner Shraddha and chopping her body into multiple pieces. He reportedly kept her body parts in a fridge for almost three months at his residence in south Delhi’s Chhatarpur before dumping them across the forested area of Mehrauli.

On November 17, a trial court permitted the police to question Aftab for five more days in its custody, while another judge allowed his narco-analysis test to learn the details of the murder after he consented to undergo the forensic procedure.