- Shraddha Walkar met Aaftab Poonawala in Mumbai in 2019 and started living together
- Shraddha’s family did not approve of the relationship following which couple came to Delhi. Her father was not aware about move till a friend of hers contacted him in August
- In Sept, Shraddha’s friend told her brother there was no contact with her for 2.5 mths. Her father also tried to reach her but failed. Missing persons case filed in Mumbai on Oct 12
- Aaftab had promised to marry Shraddha but later backtracked, which led to an argument between the two
- Oct-end/Nov 3: Aaftab called for questioning by Mumbai cops. He said Shraddha was seeing other men and had left home
- Aaftab murdered Shraddha May 18 but managed to keep it under wraps till Nov 10. He used to chat with Shraddha’s friends through her Instagram account
- After murdering Shraddha, Aaftab chopped body into 35 pieces, bought a 300-litre fridge where he kept body parts for 18 days, cops said. He may have used formaldehyde to preserve the pieces
- Every night after 2am, he would dump the parts in forest areas, even feed them to strays hCops are still looking for body parts, have found only 14
- Aaftab, who had trained as a chef, took inspiration from TV show ‘Dexter’ to meticulously plan disposal of the body
WHAT HAPPENED
2014 onwards | Shraddha Walkar had a strained relationship with father; told teachers she had lost her father and had to work to support her family
Mid-2019 | Met Poonawala on a dating app; started a live-in relationship after parents objected to it; did not keep in touch with parents
January 2020 | Walkar lost her mother; came to stay with her father and brother for two weeks and then returned to her rented home. After her mother’s death, Walkar made phone calls to her father to inform him about Poonawala’s atrocities.
March 2022 | Moved to south Delhi with Poonawala; her father was not aware about her shift to Delhi till her childhood friend contacted him in August. Walkar and Poonawala visited different hill stations in March and April.
September | Walkar’s friend made a phone call to her brother and informed him that there was no contact with her for the last 2.5 months; father also tried to reach her but failed
October 6 | Father filed application before Vasai DCP; teams formed to trace the girl
October 12 | Manickpur police filed a missing case after Walkar’s phone unreachable; her bank account showed no transactions since May; social media accounts have also been inactive since May; last location of Walkar traced to Chhatarpur Pahadi
Oct-end/Nov 3 | Poonawala called to Vasai by cops for questioning. He says Walkar left home in May after a fight
November 8 | Manickpur police station from Mumbai informed Delhi Police about the missing case
November 10 | Vasai cops and Delhi counterparts detain Poonawala for questioning; he confesses to the gruesome murder
November 11 | Police arrest Poonawala from his house in Chhatarpur Pahadi November 14 | Remanded in police custody for five days
Aaftab Poonawala (28)
- Lived in Unique Park, Diwanman, Vasai (West), with his parents and younger brother.
- Mother is a housewife, father a wholesale supplier of shoes Studied in an SSC school in Evershine Complex, Vasai (West)
- Went to a junior college in Diwanman Studied bachelor of management studies from a Santacruz college, left mid-way Went to Pune to do ‘business’
Shraddha Walkar (26)
- Lived in Sanskruti Complex, Vasai (West) with parents and younger brother Studied in a convent school in Vasai
- BMM student of Viva Institute of Technology, Vasai, in 2015. Dropped out in final year Worked as a customer service representative from April 2017 to March 2018 Joined as a sales manager at a retail sports shop in Dahisar from 2018-2020
- Worked as customer service representative and then was elevated as team leader at an IT firm that supports hyperlocal commerce
