Mehrauli murder case: Aftab Poonawala's police custody extended for five more days
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Nov, 2022 12:51 PM
New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) A Delhi court on Thursday extended, by five more days, the police custody to Aftab Ameen Poonawalla, who has been arrested for allegedly murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into 35 pieces.
Poonawalla was produced virtually before the Saket district court after the court took note of the threats to his life and security reasons.
A large group of lawyers protested outside a courtroom demanding the death penalty for the accused.
On Wednesday, the court approved a narco test of Poonawalla on Delhi Police's submission that he was not cooperating in the investigation.
A day earlier, the police had also taken him to the house in south Delhi's Chhattarpur, which he shared with Walkar, to recreate the crime. Sources have said that when Poonawalla was first called for questioning, he told the investigators that she had left the house on May 22.
"However, her belongings were at the house while Poonwalla told police that she had only taken her phone. He also said that they did not speak to each other since she left," a source said.
The investigators doubted his version and on strong questioning and through digital evidences, including the use of her Instagram account, which showed the location of the Mehrauli area, Poonawalla finally confessed to killing the victim and then chopping her body into 35 pieces and was arrested on November 12.
The case pertains to a blast that occurred in District Court Complex, Ludhiana on December 23, 2021 in which one person died and six persons were injured. Initially, a case was lodged by Lidhiana Police in 2021 and later the probe was taken over by the NIA in 2022.
The protest, which was led by BJP Yuva Morcha's national secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and its national president Tejasvi Surya, started around 10.30 a.m. from the IP College to the Chief Minister's residence.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 27 had announced that Central Civil Service Rules will be implemented for all employees under Chandigarh Administration. This decision has evoked sharp criticism from Punjab leaders who, cutting across party lines, termed it "an encroachment on Punjab's rights".
At a meeting with the Punjab Revenue Officers Association here, the minister assured representatives of the association that all their demands will be considered sympathetically, while asking them to immediately join their offices in larger public interest.
Chairing a high-level review meeting with officials of the NRI Affairs Department and members of the NRI Commission, he issued directions that the appointment of the nodal officers should be made in a transparent manner and working of these officers should be reviewed by the Deputy Commissioners on a regular basis.
