A Delhi court on Tuesday gave permission to the Delhi Police to conduct a narco test on Shraddha Walkar murder accused Aaftab Poonawala.
Aaftab's lawyer Abinash Kumar said the police had filed an application for taking Aaftab to Forensic Science Lab (FSL), Rohini, on December 1 and December 5, which was allowed by the court.
Aaftab is accused of murdering his live-in partner Shraddha. Following her killing, he allegedly cut her body in 35 parts and stored the pieces in his fridge before disposing all of them in batches in forests of Delhi.
Separately, a polygraph test of Aaftab has also been conducted. Both polygraph and narco tests are tools to make a person speak truthfully. While a polygraph test seeks to check if a person is lying, a narco test uses certain chemicals to make a person speak truthfully.
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Police had earlier said that the narco analysis would be conducted at Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini by a team of experts from the FSL.
On Monday, Aaftab had come under an attack by some weapon-wielding men at the FSL when he was in a police van. The video of the incident showed sword-wielding men attacking the man and a policeman raising his pistol to challenge and drive them away. Since the incident, security outside the FSL, where a series of sessions of polygraph test on Aaftab have taken place, has been beefed up.
What is narco test?
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Narco analysis is also known as truth serum. It involves intravenous administration of drugs such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine, and sodium amytal that causes the person undergoing it to enter into various stages of anaesthesia.
In the hypnotic stage, the person becomes less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state.
The investigating agencies use this test after the other evidence do not provide a clear picture of the case.
The Delhi Police had earlier said it was seeking permission for Aaftab's narco analysis as his responses during interrogation were “deceptive” in nature.
The Supreme Court has ruled that narco analysis, brain mapping, and polygraph tests cannot be conducted on any person without their consent.
Also, statements made during this test are not admissible as primary evidence in the court, except under certain circumstances where the bench thinks that the facts and nature of the case permit it.
(With PTI inputs)
