Shraddha Walkar Murder: Aaftab Poonawala's Family Untraceable As Delhi Police Probe Reaches Maharashtra's Vasai

The Delhi Police's investigation into the Shraddha Walkar murder case has reached Vasai in Maharashtra Palghar district. 

Vasai is the native place of Shraddha, who was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in May, who later chopped her body in 35 parts and disposed the parts in the forests of Delhi. Shraddha and Aaftab had stayed in Vasai before moving to Delhi.

The family of Aaftab is not in their house in Vasai. The house remains locked and the family remains untraceable.

In Vasai, the Delhi Police recorded statements of four persons, which include two persons from whom Shraddha had sought help during her stay there and two of her coworkers.

Delhi Police records statements

A Delhi Police team on Saturday recorded statements of four persons in Maharashtra's Palghar. 

Of these four persons, two were men from whom Shraddha, 27, had sought assistance after she was assaulted by Aaftab in 2020, said officials. The third was a former manager of the call centre in Mumbai where Shraddha worked and the fourth was a female friend of hers.

The two male witnesses whose statements were recorded are identified as Rahul Ray and Godwin. Both of them are residents of Vasai region, a police official said, adding that one of them is a rickshaw driver and the other is currently unemployed. Shraddha had sought their assistance in 2020 after she was beaten up by Aaftab near Vasai and the duo had helped her at the time.

The four-member Delhi police team, which landed in Mumbai on Friday, had recorded the statement of Shraddha's friend Laxman Nadar, the official said.

Aaftab's family remains untraceable

Local police said family members of Aaftab have fled to an unknown location from a building in Mira Road near Mumbai where they had shifted last month and are untraceable.

Police on Saturday spoke with some office-bearers of the housing society and also visited the flat of the Poonawalas, which was found locked, a Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police official said. 

Soon after the Poonawala family moved into the building, the family members, including Aaftab's parents and brother, went on a short vacation and returned after the news of his grisly crime broke, a building member said.

"After this, we saw them (Aaftab’s father Amin and mother Munira) twice while they were keeping the dustbin outside their flat. Amin Bhai, Munira and their (other) son are talkative. We have not seen them since the last week," he told PTI.

Residents of the housing society were shocked after learning that a member of the family that shifted into their building last month has been arrested for killing his live-in partner and chopping her body into pieces. The residents said they have not seen Aaftab since the family shifted to the Mira Road society.

"The family shifted into a two-bedroom flat on the 11th floor of this building around Diwali, but the flat has been locked since last week. After this (news about Aaftab), the Poonawala family was in a state of depression. We don't know where they are now," said the resident cited above.

I tried to solve the issue, Aaftab's family insulted me: Shraddha's father

Meanwhile, Shraddha's father Vikas Walkar on Saturday claimed he had visited Aaftab's residence in Vasai earlier but was insulted and warned by his family members not to come again. 

Speaking to the Marathi news channel ABP Majha, Vikas said he was not aware when his daughter shifted to Delhi, where she was killed in May this year. He demanded justice for Shraddha and stern punishment for Aaftab for the ghastly crime.

Vikas said he had visited Aaftab's residence at Vasai to find a solution to the issue about their relationship but he was insulted by Aaftab's cousin. 

He added, "His (Aaftab's) family members had warned me not to visit their residence again. After the death of my wife, the efforts to find a solution were stopped. I had tried to convince Shraddha (to walk out of the relationship) but she wouldn't listen."

BJP raises 'Love Jihad' issue

As the Delhi Police investigates the crime and the public comes to terms with the brutality involved, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has included the crime in its electoral pitch and has called it an act of 'Love Jihad'.

Love Jihad is a term often used by right-wing Hindu organisations to refer to their idea that Muslim men marry or enter into relationships with non-Muslim women, mainly Hindu women, with the only idea to marry them.

Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma termed Shraddha's murder a case of 'Love Jihad' and pitched for another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 elections. He also said someone like Aaftab will be born in every city if the country does not get a powerful leader and a government that respects India like one's mother.

Addressing a rally in Gujarat's Kutch district on Friday, Sarma said, "Recently, one Aaftab brought Shraddha from Mumbai and cut her into 35 pieces in the name of Love Jihad. And after that, where did he put her body? In the fridge. When the body was in the fridge, he brought another girl and started dating her."

Earlier, a BJP MLA from Maharashtra said he would write to the Delhi Police to investigate if the murder was a case of Love Jihad.

BJP MLA Ram Kadam on Tuesday said he will write a letter to the Delhi Police to seek a probe into the possible 'Love Jihad' angle. He and his supporters gathered in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai on Tuesday and raised slogans against Aaftab. They had also brought an effigy of Aaftab to mark their protest.

He said, "I will write a letter to the Delhi Police requesting them to conduct a probe into the possibility of 'Love Jihad' behind the killing of Shraddha by Aaftab Poonawala. Are there any groups or gangs behind such an incident? Is an enemy state involved in it? It should be probed."

Kadam said Shraddha's murder should not be seen as a standalone case and that similar incidents have taken place earlier.

(With PTI inputs)