On Tuesday, the world’s population surpassed the 8 billion mark, just 12 years after surpassing the 7 billion mark. According to the United Nations’ most recent forecasts, the world population might reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.4 billion in 2100.
“Unless we bridge the yawning chasm between the global haves and have-nots, we are setting ourselves up for an 8-billion-strong world filled with tensions and mistrust, crisis and conflict,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
According to a press release by the international body, the occasion is also a clarion call for mankind to look well beyond numbers and meet its shared obligation to safeguard people and the earth, beginning with the most disadvantaged.
According to the World Population Prospectus 2022, the average fertility of the world’s population in 2021 was 2.3 births per woman during a lifetime, down from roughly 5 births per woman in 1950. Global fertility is expected to fall even more by 2050, to 2.1 births per woman.
Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people (29 per cent of the world population) and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion people were the two most populated areas in 2022. (26 per cent). With almost 1.4 billion people each, China and India accounted for the majority of the population in these two areas. In 2023, India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populated country.
More than half of the predicted worldwide population rise between 2022 and 2050 is likely to be concentrated in only eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, in order to increase demographic resilience, we must invest in improved infrastructure, education, and health care, as well as assure access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. We must remove the barriers that prevent individuals from obtaining the services and opportunities they require, whether they are based on gender, colour, disability, or immigrant status.
Aftab Amin Poonawalla, a 28-year-old food blogger from Mumbai, was arrested by the Delhi police on Saturday (November 12) for the gruesome murder of his Hindu live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar.
He had strangled the victim to death on May 18 this year and then chopped her body into 35 pieces. Over a span of several days, he disposed of her body parts at 18 different locations in the National Capital.
The gory details and severity of his heinous crime have sent shockwaves across the country. His social media accounts have also come under the scanner, with netizens outpouring their anger in the comment section of his posts.
Killer of Shraddha was a vocal ‘activist’ on social media
Aftab Amin Poonawalla had the persona of an activist on social media. He was seen co-opting the liberal narrative of targeting Hindu festivals by raking up one environmental issue or the other.
In October 2015, he shared a post wherein a child was seen holding a poster that read, “This Diwali burst your ego, not crackers.” His attempt at virtue-signalling the Hindu community did not stop with the festival of lights.
In March 2016, he was seen trying to trick Hindus into guilt for ‘wasting water’ on the occasion of Holi. Although ‘World Water Day’ is observed on March 22, he deliberately shared a post about ‘water scarcity’ on March 24 (coinciding with the Holi festivities of that year).
However, Opindia did not find any social media posts by Aftab, asking adherents of other Faiths from celebrating their festival differently. He had exclusively confined his virtue signalling to Hindu festivals.
He was also seen supporting the LGBTQ+ movement by adding ‘Pride colours’ to his Facebook display picture.
Screengrab of the Facebook post of Aftab
As ironic as it may sound, Aftab Amin Poonawalla was also a ‘women’s rights activist.’ In 2014, he shared a post by ‘The Logical Indian’ that read, “Women are not born with labels.”
According to Shraddha’s father, the accused physically assaulted her daughter on multiple occasions. The victim had informed her parents about the abuse perpetrated by Aftab.
Screengrab of the Facebook post
The murder accused did not leave any opportunity to pretend as a ‘humanist’ on social media. “The smallest coffins are the heaviest,” a post shared by Aftab read in the aftermath of the 2014 Peshawar School Massacre.
Aftab, however, had no qualms about slaughtering his ‘beloved’ and storing her body in the refrigerator. He even went on to mince her intestine into finely diced shreds. The accused also had sex with multiple women, while Shraddha’s dismembered body lay frozen in the refrigerator.
His activism did not stop and only intensified with time. He had also championed the cause of Aarey forest and had been an advocate for net neutrality.
Aftab Amin Poonawalla targeted BJP with a dubious social media post
The murder accused also insinuated that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been at the helm of creating communal tensions in the society,
In October 2015, he shared a post, which claimed that an alleged BJP worker (dressed in burqa) tried to throw beef inside a temple and create a Hindu-Muslim divide.
While reporting about the matter, India News found that the original tweet, which was the basis of the contentious claim, was deleted.
Even the likes of Alt News could not find any conclusive report about such an incident. “Alt News could not find a single conclusive news report of the incident. The claim which had circulated back then- that the person is a RSS member, could not be verified,” it had stated.
The murderer of Shraddha was obsessed with food, tattoos
Aftab was fascinated with the tattoos, which he embossed on his two arms. While one read ‘Faith’, the other one read ‘Hope.’ He had flaunted them in various social media posts and even made it the display picture of his Facebook profile.
Besides tattoos, the murder accused was obsessed with taking pictures of food. His Instagram profile (@thehungrychokro) is filled with images of desserts and beverages.
Screengrab of the Instagram timeline of Aftab Amin Poonawalla
Through his food blogging pursuits, Aftab was even able to meet celebrity chef, Harpal Singh Sokhi, on the sets of Turban Tadka in May 2014.
Aftab Amin Poonawalla had a ‘skill for the kill’: A Retrospective analysis
On October 3, 2016, the murder accused shared a Buzzfeed article, which taught ways to chop fruits and vegetables like a professional chef. Just 6 years later, he used the same skills to slaughter his live-in partner.
Screengrab of the Facebook post
On Monday (November 14), the Delhi police informed that Aftab Amin Poonawalla read about human anatomy before chopping Shraddha’s body and searched for methods, to clean the blood, on the internet.
Reports also mention that the accused had earlier worked as a chef in a Mumbai-based restaurant. During the chef training, he was taught how to cut meat into small pieces and preserve them in refrigeration.
The job had also taught him tips and tricks to maintain cleanliness after chopping the meat. According to the police, Aftab’s former job as a chef helped him in clinically chopping Shraddha’s dead body into 35 pieces.
Contradictory claims about the religion of the murder accused settled
After the news of the barbaric crime went viral on social media, the usual suspects began contradicting the religious affiliation of Aftab Amin Poonawalla. They claimed that the accused is a Parsi by Faith and his heinous act is being used to ‘defame’ the Muslim community.
Opindia had debunked the disinformation and pointed out how Aftab had professed his Faith on Instagram. “I am a Muslim and the other term you’re is Hindu. Lord Krishna is the God of Hindus. May I ask why the certain inquisitiveness about my religion???” he told another user.
The religious affiliation of the accused also becomes clear from the complaint, filed by the victim’s father with the police and attached to the First Information Report (FIR) in the case.
Copy of the FIR in the Shraddha murder case
“My daughter had told my wife in 2019 that she wants to stay in a live-in relationship with Aftab Amin Poonawalla. I and my wife had said ‘No’ to it. This is because we are Hindus and belong to the Koli caste. And the boy is a Muslim,” the complaint read.
It further added, “In our place, we do not engage in inter-caste, inter-faith relationships.” It is thus clear that Aftab Amin Poonwalla is a Muslim by Faith and not a Parsi, as claimed by several users on social media.
The arrest of the accused on Saturday (November 12) thus brings closure to the 6-month-old case, although shocking details about Aftab continue to emerge and shock the public conscience.
Friends of Shraddha Walker, the 26-year-old woman who was strangled and mutilated into pieces by her live-in partner Aftab Amin, have revealed details of their toxic and abusive relationship, indicating that Shraddha was unhappy and desperate to break off the relationship.
According to her acquaintances, Shraddha stated that she was “living in hell” and was frightened that her partner Aftab would “kill her.” The couple’s neighbours and friends reported that they used to fight frequently, and Walkar was afraid for her life.
In a video, which OpIndia has accessed, Shraddha’s friend Rajat Shukla recalled how Shraddha’s personality changed after she started living with Aftab. “We use to study, do theatre and act together. Shraddha was very active and there was a lot of spark in her personality. However, as 2018 approached we started noticing a lot of changes in her personality. It is often expected that a person would change for the better, but in Shraddha’s case, she started withering. Probably this was the time when Aftab entered her life,” said Shraddha’s close friend.
He added, “We, however, did not about their relationship until 2019. We initially learnt that the duo were living together in Vasai, but we were later told that they were shifting to Delhi for work. After that, we lost touch with Shraddha until we came to know that she had disappeared. Later we learnt about her ghastly murder. This cannot be love. Love stories cannot have such a horrific end. There is certainly a larger conspiracy behind the entire act, who is Aftab? what was his motive? all these things need to be investigated thoroughly, demanded Shukla.
Shraddha wanted to leave Aftab but could not, says her friend
Notably, while speaking to ANI Rajat Shukla also revealed that initially, the couple had started out in a happy relationship, but things soon turned sour between them and Shraddha told her friends that Aftab had been assaulting her and she wanted to leave him.
Shukla said, “She told us in 2019 that she was in a relationship since 2018. They lived together. Initially, they lived happily, but then Shraddha started saying that Aftab beats her. She wanted to leave him but couldn’t do so.”
Laxman Nadar, another friend of the victim, was quoted by DNA as saying, “They used to have a lot of fights. There was a fight to such an extent that she texted me on WhatsApp and asked me to take her somewhere that night. She said that if she lived with Aftab that night, he would kill her.”
Nadar said that her friends had assisted her in leaving the house when Aftab became violent. He added that they even threatened Aftab that they would phone the police and file a complaint against him.
Victim’s father suspects ‘love jihad’ angle in the case
Earlier in the day, we reported how the father of the 26-year-old girl is reportedly suspecting a ‘love jihad’ angle in the case and demanded the death penalty for the accused perpetrator.
Speaking to ANI, Shraddha’s father, Vikas Madan 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.”
According to the FIR, Shraddha’s family was opposed to the relationship because Aftab was a Muslim. They also objected to Shraddha’s decision to live with Aftab. However, Shraddha was adamant about her decision.
Aftab shows no remorse for killing Shraddha, say Delhi Police
Meanwhile, the Delhi police revealed that Aftab showed no remorse for murdering Shraddha. The only time he cried was reportedly when his father visited the police station after his arrest.
Aftab Amin, 28, who eloped with Shraddha from Mumbai, and chopped her into 35 pieces in a rented residence in Chhatarpur, was apprehended by the police on Saturday (November 12).
Aftab was allegedly irritated by the victim’s request to marry him. He strangled her to death on May 18, this year. Aftab, who had previously worked as a cook, sliced the body parts with an iron saw, which is used to cut wood and trees. He also threw the blood-soaked clothing in the bin. After that, the accused bought a refrigerator and kept her body in it for many days. He cut her into 35 pieces and disposed of them in 18 different sites around Delhi.
AAP MLA Naresh Balyan shared a tweet earlier today where he tried to associate BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla with the murderer of Shraddha Walkar whose name was reported in the media as Aftab Amin Poonawala. In a tweet, Balyan asked what is Shehzad’s relationship with Aftab and why is the BJP spokesperson “running away” without answering questions.
Naresh Balyan’s tweet
In his tweet, Balyan stated that people on social media are questioning if Shehzad is related to Aftab Amin Poonawala. It is notable here that Shehzad’s brother Tehseen is related to Priyanka Vadra’s husband Robert Vadra by marriage.
Just because the murderer shares a similar surname, the AAP MLA tried to associate the BJP spokesperson with Aftab.
Responding to the allegations made by Naresh Balyan, Shehzad Poonawala informed on Twitter that his lawyer has initiated criminal and civil proceedings against the AAP MLA for his “unsubstantiated, reckless & defamatory statements.”
My lawyer @namitsaxena2007 ji has initiated CRIMINAL & CIVIL proceedings against Naresh Balyan for his unsubstantiated, reckless & defamatory statements
I will be taking further legal actions against anyone amplifying this lie & also other steps soon – copy of notice below pic.twitter.com/m87AVI0GHr
Shehzad informed further that he will also initiate similar proceedings against any person amplifying this lie and trying to associate his name with the murderer.
Naresh Balyan repeats the lie, brazens it out
After trying to drag Shehzad’s Poonawala’s name linking him with the murder accused, the AAP MLA responded to Shehzad’s legal notice and claimed further, without any logic or correlation, that he (Shehzad) is now trying to defend the murder accused Aftab. Balyan claimed that he will continue demanding justice for Shraddha.
बिटिया श्रद्धा के हत्यारे आफताब पूनावाला के समर्थन में उतरा भाजपा नेता शहजाद पूनावाला, श्रद्धा के लिए आवाज उठाने पर मुझे दे रहा मुकदमे की धमकी, सुनो शहजाद चुनावला, मैं तुम्हारे इस मुकदमे से डरने वाला नहीं। मैने तो लोगो की आवाज उठाई।मैं आवाज उठाऊंगा श्रद्धा बिटिया के न्याय के लिए। https://t.co/alveiMc2gb
It is notable here that Poonawala/ Poonawala are surnames often used by Parsis or Bohra Muslims with roots in Poona (Pune). Shehzad is a national spokesperson for the BJP while his brother Tehseen is often seen in TV debates arguing on behalf of the Congress party.
Cyrus Poonawalla and his son Adar Poonawalla are the names behind India’s largest vaccine manufacturing company Serum Institute of India. They are from the Parsi community.
After the gruesome murder case from Mehrauli made national headlines, and Aftab was arrested by the police for killing Shraddha, a Hindu girl from Maharashtra, several social media handles tried to claim that Aftab was a Parsi and not a Muslim. However, those claims were debunked by our report here.
RSS-affiliated magazine The Organiser has accused e-commerce giant Amazon of funding the conversion module of an evangelist group in the northeast region of India. In the cover story of the latest issue titled “Amazing Cross Connection”, the magazine alleged that the e-commerce giant funds an organisation named “American Baptist Church” that is accused of running a conversion module in the region.
In its report, the magazine alleged, “E-commerce giant Amazon is financing the Christian conversion module run by American Baptist Church (ABM). There is a possibility of a money laundering ring run by multinational companies and ABM to fund India’s huge missionary conversion mission.” It further alleged that ABM is running a front named All India Mission (AIM) in the country that openly claimed to have converted over 25 thousand people to Christianity in northeast India.
The magazine also added a screenshot of a Twitter post by AIM that appealed to shop at Amazon under the Amazon Smile initiative. The magazine said, “Amazon is sponsoring the conversion module of All India Mission by donating money against every purchase by an Indian.”
The report read, “The Social Justice Forum of Arunachal Pradesh alleged that the e-commerce giant is continuously funding the All India Mission through its foundation, Amazon Smile.” It added, “The e-com giant has reportedly accepted the truth of funding the All India Mission from their US Office. The All India Mission has another front called Calvary Gospel Ministries trust that plants Churches across India under the secular name Parthana Bhavans to lure the gullible population into conversion. The organisation alleged that Amazon is patronising AIM in these endeavours.”
Amazon denies claims
Media houses, including Times Now and The Indian Express, reached out to Amazon for a reply. The spokesperson at the e-commerce giant denied the allegations. They said, “Amazon India does not have any relationship with All India Mission or its affiliates, nor does the AmazonSmile program operate on the Amazon India marketplace. Where the AmazonSmile program does operate, customers can choose to donate to a charity they prefer from multiple non-profits that register themselves under the program. The AmazonSmile program does not endorse the views of any charity participating in the program.”
NCPCR had summoned Amazon over sponsoring an organisation involved in illegal conversion to Christianity
In September this year, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights summoned Amazon’s India head for failing to respond to its notices seeking information on allegations of funding an organisation involved in illegally converting children to Christianity. Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President and Country Head of Amazon India, was asked to appear before the NCPCR on 1st November to explain the reasons for not responding to the statutory body’s notices and also provide the answers to questions asked them.
Amazon India was under the scrutiny of NCPCR after it was found to be giving donations to an NGO named All India Mission, which is accused of indulging in unlawful practices. The child rights body had issued notices to Amazon in September after receiving a complaint from the NGO Social Justice Forum of Arunachal Pradesh, alleging that All India Mission is involved in unlawful practices by illegally converting children to Christianity in India.
“It has been mentioned in the complaint that the said organisation has more than 100 orphanages across India. As per the complaint, the website and social media pages of the said organisation clearly state that they aim to convert the people in India and also claim that they have already converted many people in India already, especially in North East India and Jharkhand,” the NCPCR notice to Amazon India had said.
Reportedly, NCPCR issued a notice to Amazon on 14th September asking it to provide all details of donations made to All India Mission within seven days. After not receiving any response to the notice, NCPCR sent a reminder notice on 30th September, but Amazon officials also ignored that. Therefore, NCPCR has now summoned the country head of Amazon India, exercising its under Section 14 of the CPCR Act, 2005.
Naresh Kumar, Delhi Chief Secretary, on Monday suspended Tihar jail superintendent Ajit Kumar over allegations that he was giving preferential treatment to the detained Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain at the central jail in conjunction with prison authorities.
“… Ajit Kumar, Ad-hoc DANICS/ Superintendent, Central Jail No. 7, is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect… it is further ordered that during the period that this order shall remain in force, the headquarters of Sh. Ajit Kumar should be Delhi and… (he) shall not leave the headquarters without obtaining the previous permission,” a letter signed by Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar read.
The rule allows the government to suspend officials if disciplinary proceedings against them are being investigated or are already underway. According to reports, the decision was made after Kumar was discovered to have committed violations and granted favors to Jain. When Jain was detained, he was the Delhi Home Minister.
Ajit Kumar is the second senior jail officer to face charges in less than a week, following claims of preferential treatment being provided to the minister. Last week, Sandeep Goel, the Director General of Prisons, was transferred from the Tihar Jail, only days after imprisoned conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar alleged that he had paid protection money to Delhi minister Satyendar Jain. Goel was replaced by 1989 batch IPS officer Sanjay Beniwal.
Earlier on November 1, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had informed the Delhi Court that AAP Minister Satyendar Jain, who has been charged in a money laundering case, was being treated specially in the Tihar jail. The ED submitted the CCTV footage of the Tihar jail which allegedly showed Jain getting preferential treatment inside Tihar Jail.
The ED had said that Jain was being given foot massage and body massage while in the cell and that he was being served fresh-cut fruits and green salad directly in his cell by an unidentified individual. The ED further contended that Jain’s cell is being cleaned, mopped, and broomed by an unidentified person under the supervision of co-accused Ankush Jain.
The ED also said that Jain was continuously and easily able to meet co-accused Ankush Jain, Vaibhav Jain, and also his wife, Poonam Jain who visits him often in the cell. The ED alleged that the accused was violating all the norms of the jail and was meeting the jail superintendent every day, which is against the rules.
The ED attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crores linked to Jain and his family in April. The ED launched an investigation in the case based on an FIR which was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jain and others under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It is alleged that while Jain was a public servant, his companies received up to Rs. 4.81 crores from shell companies via the Hawala network. Satyendar Jain was arrested and detained by the Enforcement Directorate on May 31, 2022.
According to a source quoted by The Print, Aftab Amin Poonawalla, the man who murdered his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and stored her body parts in a refrigerator after chopping it into 35 parts, minced her intestine into finely diced shreds. As per the report, he also kept his cache of ice cream and chilled beverages alongside the body.
“Fearing that the body would smell, Aftab first threw the intestine. He cut the body into tiny parts to fit into the fridge and threw them in 18-20 trips around 2 cm each night. The head and the torso were kept till August,” the source was quoted as saying. Notably, the human intestines, both small and large, measure around 20 feet or more. They weigh about 3-4 kilograms on average.
The insider cited by Print stated that Aftab used a 1-foot-long saw to finish the macabre job and that his experience as a cook at a five-star hotel helped him in chopping up Shraddha’s body into tiny fragments over the course of days.
He then buried these body parts over the course of the following several months in a forested area near his residence in Chhattarpur Pahadi, and other locations around Mehrauli, including swamps and garbage dumps.
Aftab reportedly Googled ‘how to clean blood’ and ‘how to get rid of the body.’ To avoid suspicion, Aftab allegedly continued to communicate with Shraddha’s acquaintances on Instagram until June 9th. The source was quoted as saying that he used her credit card to pay off her bills so that nobody would question her disappearance. So far, police have collected 13 suspected body parts from different locations.
Shraddha murder case
As per reports, Aftab met Shraddha in Mumbai while working at a call centre. Shraddha fell in love with Aftab and eloped from her home after her parents disapproved of her relationship with him. The duo, thereafter, began living together in the Mehrauli area of Delhi. Aftab was reportedly miffed with the victim for asking him to marry her. On May 18 this year, he strangled her to death.
The accused then purchased a refrigerator and stored her body in it for several days. He chopped his partner into 35 pieces and disposed of them at 18 different locations in Delhi. Reportedly, he would go out every night at 2 am to dump the body parts and destroy the evidence of his heinous crime. Shraddha’s family kept track of her whereabouts through her social media posts.
When she stopped posting updates, her family grew worried. Shraddha’s father went to Delhi but was unable to find her. Thereafter, he lodged a complaint with the police. The arrest of Aftab on Saturday (November 12) thus brought closure to the 6-month-old case.
In a shocking revelation, in the Shraddha Walker murder case, the Delhi Police on Monday stated that the accused identified as Aftab Amin Poonawalla had searched on the internet for the method to clean the blood after murdering his live-in partner and that he had read about human anatomy before chopping her body into 35 small pieces.
The Delhi Police solved a six-month-old murder case and arrested the accused for murdering his 28-year-old live-in partner. The police interrogated Aftab during which he confessed that he had read about human anatomy before chopping the woman into 35 pieces. They seized his electronic devices to verify that the accused googled about methods to clean the blood stains after executing the murder on May 18 this year.
The police further said that the accused had specially purchased a refrigerator to store 35 pieces of Shraddha’s dead body. Later he began disposing off the body parts at different locations in and around Delhi during the night hours for the next 18 days. Aftab stayed in the same room where he had murdered the woman and used to look at the face of the woman that he had chopped off and kept in the refrigerator. According to the police, the accused also cleaned the fridge after disposing of the body parts in various parts of Delhi.
The accused was arrested by the police on Monday in the brutal murder case. He was arrested based on the complaint lodged by Shraddha’s father on November 10. Aftab and Shraddha met and began dating while working at a call center in Mumbai. After her family disapproved of their relationship, the pair eloped to Delhi and began living together.
Meanwhile, Shraddha’s family would monitor her posts on social media to see how she was doing. Shraddha’s father got worried on failing to get any updates about his daughter from her social media account for a long time. He was also informed by some of her friends that she was not seen around for a long time.
After this, Shraddha’s father who is a resident of the Palghar district of Maharashtra, reached Delhi to look for his daughter. Later he complained to the Delhi Police after she remained untraceable in the city. He said that his daughter used to work at a call center in Mumbai, where she met a man named Aftab and had a close relationship with him. Both of them had begun to like each other, but her family was not pleased. According to the police, his daughter and Aftab left Mumbai and moved to Delhi, where they settled in the Chhatarpur area.
Aftab and Shraddha shared an acrimonious relationship, routinely fought with each other
Following the father’s complaint, the Delhi Police launched an investigation and eventually apprehended Aftab using technical surveillance. The accused during the interrogation confessed to the crime and said that they shifted to Delhi by April-end or May first week after facing opposition from their families. He also said that they used to have regular fights during their relationship.
The duo suspected each other of cheating and often asked for GPS details and photographs of the surroundings. To make their relationship better, they also had planned a trip to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in April this year. It is after the trip that they decided to move to Delhi.
However, on May 18, three days after they shifted to Delhi, they again got into a fight which concluded in Shraddha’s death this time. “We suspect the woman was shouting or screaming during the fight, and the man tried to silence her by strangling and overpowering her. She died during the struggle,” said Additional DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan.
Aftab kept changing statements, his past job as a chef helped in chopping Shraddha’s body: Delhi Police
The police also said that the accused kept on changing his statements during the interrogation. Earlier he had told the police that the duo had an argument and Shraddha had left him after they fought. “In May 2022, we argued. Shraddha left and since then, I don’t know her whereabouts,” police quoted Aaftab as saying during the interrogation. Later, however, he happened to confess the crime of killing her.
Reports also mention that the accused had earlier worked as a chef in a Mumbai-based restaurant. During the chef training, he was taught how to cut meat into small pieces and preserve them in refrigeration. The job had also taught him tips and tricks to maintain cleanliness after chopping the meat. According to the police, Aftab’s former job as a chef helped him in clinically chopping Shraddha’s dead body into 35 pieces.
Aftab influenced by Hollywood thrillers and Dexter web-series to conceal evidence
The police also stated that the accused was influenced by Hollywood thriller movies and web series which helped him in concealing the evidence for almost three months. “Recently he had watched a web series named Dexter. This probably helped him make a plan to execute the murder and hide the evidence”, the police said. As reported earlier, the accused also entertained other women after he murdered Shraddha. He had installed the dating App Bumble shortly after the murder and hosted another woman who was a psychologist by profession. She visited his house a couple of times in June and July when Shraddha’s body parts were still in the fridge and the kitchen.
Though the police have nabbed the accused and has sent him to five-day remand, the weapon with which Aftab severed Shraddha’s dead body is yet to be recovered. The accused has been arrested and a case under IPC section 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) has been registered. Further investigations in the case are underway.
More details are emerging in the Shraddha Walkar murder case. The father of the 26-year-old girl who was strangulated and butchered into pieces by her live-in partner Aftab Amin is reportedly suspecting a ‘love jihad’ angle in the case and demanded the death penalty for the accused perpetrator.
Speaking to ANI, Shraddha’s father, Vikas Madan 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.”
Shraddha murder case: Father suspects “love jihad” angle, demands death penalty for Aftab
Aftab Poonawalla, the accused in the murder of Shraddha Walker, was a food blogger who used to work at a call centre in the national capital, according to a Delhi Police investigation. The police are now looking into whether he rented a residence in Delhi’s Chhatarpur neighbourhood as part of a conspiracy to kill the victim.
Shraddha Walker’s father, Vikas Madan Walker filed a missing person report at Mehrauli Police Station, South Delhi district on November 10. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered by the police and an investigation was initiated to find Shraddha. During the investigation, the police found that Aftab Amin Poonawala, with whom Shraddha was in a live-in relationship, allegedly killed her in May. He reportedly chopped her into 35 pieces and disposed of them one by one.
According to the FIR, Shraddha’s family was opposed to the relationship because Aftab was a Muslim. They also objected to Shraddha’s decision to live with Aftab. However, Shraddha was adamant about her decision. The FIR noted after her parents announced their disapproval of the relationship with Aftab, she said, “I am 25 years old. I have full right to take my own decisions. I want to have a live-in relationship with Aftab. From today, you can think you never had a daughter.” She packed her belongings and left the house. Vikas and his wife, late Suman Madan Walker, tried to stop her, but she did not listen.
The FIR noted that Shraddha frequently called her mother and informed her that Aftab often fought with her and physically assaulted her as well.
In his complaint, Vikas said, “The relationship between my daughter and Aftab was not good. I am confident that he is behind her disappearance. Either he has hidden her somewhere or has done something wrong.”
Police arrested Aftab for Shraddha’s murder
After filing FIR under Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code, the Delhi Police initiated an investigation. During the probe, they found out that Aftab had killed Shraddha in May this year. Reports suggest Aftab kept on changing his statements during questioning.
Aftab told police that the duo got into an argument, and he strangulated her. Later, he chopped her dead body into 35 pieces. He brought a new fridge to store the pieces. Aftab left his apartment with one piece of the dead body wrapped in plastic daily and disposed of it off in a forest area.
“It is learned that after the murder, Aftab used to come back home by 6-7 pm and then used to take the pieces of the dead body kept in the fridge for disposal in the dead of the night. The accused used to carry the pieces of the carcass in a black foil but had thrown the pieces out of the foil in the forest, making it difficult to ascertain if the pieces were thrown or the remains were due to animal hunting,” ANI quoted a source as saying.
Reports suggest after murdering Shraddha, he installed a dating app and dated another woman. While the parts of Shraddha’s body were in the fridge and kitchen, Aftab brought another woman to the apartment a few times on dates.
On Tuesday, November 15, the Delhi police probing the barbaric murder of 26-year-old Shraddha Walkar revealed that the accused, Aftab Amin Poonawalla, continued bringing other women home and had sex with them while Shraddha’s dismembered body remained in his fridge, reports News 18. The police confirmed that the disturbing disclosure was made by the accused Aftab during his interrogation.
Aftab confessed that he kept meeting other women through the dating app after he killed Shraddha in May this year. He brought those women to his house in Chhattarpur Pahadi in south Delhi where he had sex with them. All this while, Shraddha Vikas Walkar’s body which he chopped into 35 pieces kept lying in that refrigerator frozen, wrapped in multiple plastic bags.
The police further said that even though those women who frequented Aftab’s house noticed many incense sticks lit in the residence, a strong fragrance of room fresheners, and a harsh stench of chlorine, they did not suspect a cover-up.
OpIndia reported earlier in the day how Aftab installed the dating App Bumble shortly after the murder. On the dating app, he got in touch with another woman who was a psychologist by profession. Notably, Bumble is the same dating app where he got in touch with Shraddha for the first time in 2019, stated Indian Express while quoting sources.
The report mentioned that the other woman whom Aftab got in touch with on the dating app had visited his house a couple of times in June and July. Shraddha’s body parts were still in the fridge and the kitchen while Aftab hosted the new woman at his flat.
Aftab purchased the fridge recently with the sole purpose of stashing the dismembered body parts of Shraddha: Delhi police
The cops also learned that Aftab purchased the refrigerator recently for the sole purpose of storing the woman’s decomposing body parts. “After strangulating her, the man wanted to dispose of the body in order to escape. Since the body has started decomposing he bought the refrigerator. He even ordered bleach online to wash the body parts as it had started emanating a foul smell. We will check his phone and computer to find what all did he order during that period and then establish a sequence of events. He has also told us that the saw he used to cut Walkar’s body into more than 30 pieces, was bought from a local shop in Chhattarpur area,” News 18 quoted a police officer who was part of the investigation team but did not want to be identified as saying.
On November 14, reports emerged that a man identified as Aftab Ameen Poonawalla allegedly killed his live-in partner, a Hindu woman identified as Shraddha, in May this year. He allegedly chopped her body in 35 pieces, stored them in a newly brought fridge, and disposed of them one piece at a time for several days.
Reportedly, he would go out every night at 2 am to dump the body parts and destroy the evidence of his heinous crime. Shraddha’s family kept track of her whereabouts through her social media posts.
When she stopped posting updates, her family grew worried. Shraddha’s father went to Delhi but was unable to find her. Thereafter, he lodged a complaint with the police. The arrest of Aftab on Saturday (November 12) thus brought closure to the 6-month-old case.
