Mehrauli murder: Delhi cops record statements of two men who helped Shraddha after Aaftab’s 2020 assault

Mumbai, November 19

A Delhi Police team on Saturday recorded the statements of two men in Maharashtra’s Palghar from whom 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar, who was allegedly murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in May this year, had sought assistance after she was assaulted by the accused in 2020, officials said.

The team is in Manikpur in Palghar district’s Vasai, which is the native area of the victim and where the couple had stayed before shifting to the national capital.

The official identified the two witnesses, whose statements are being recorded as Rahul Ray and Godwin. Both of them are residents of Vasai region. The process of recording the statement of one person was complete and the other’s was in progress, he added.

As per the police official, Walkar had sought their assistance in 2020 after she was beaten up by Poonawala near Vasai, and the duo had helped her at the time.

Giving details of these two witnesses, the official said one of them is a rickshaw driver and the other is currently unemployed.

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

According to the police, Poonawala allegedly strangled Walkar on May 18 and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight.

The Delhi Police had on Friday sent teams to Maharashtra, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to hunt for evidence in the case with sleuths recovering some body parts in Gurugram.