Mehrauli murder: DNA of Shraddha's bones matches with her father

The brutality involved in Shraddha Walkar's murder by her live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawalla, was officially confirmed after the DNA extracted from bone pieces recovered in the Mehrauli forest area matched with her father's samples, sources said on Thursday.

Mehrauli murder: DNA of Shraddha's bones matches with her father
Source: IANS

New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) The brutality involved in Shraddha Walkar's murder by her live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawalla, was officially confirmed after the DNA extracted from bone pieces recovered in the Mehrauli forest area matched with her father's samples, sources said on Thursday.

Special Commissioner of Police (Law & Order), Sagar Preet Hooda, said that police have received the DNA test report from the CFSL and the polygraph test from the FSL, Rohini.

The third narco test report is still awaited. The post-narco test of Poonawalla had also concluded on December 2. His test was conducted inside the Tihar prison by the FSL officials.

Poonawalla, who was arrested on November 12, a polygraph test report was submitted to the police by the Forensic Sciences Lab (FSL) on Wednesday.

The Delhi Police teams investigating the case had recovered 13 bone pieces after Aaftab told the investigators that he chopped her body into several pieces and dumped them into the forest area.

The blood samples were also recovered, from bathroom and kitchen, by forensic officials in the Chattarpur house, where both Poonawalla and Walkar had shifted on May 15, three days before her murder.

The bone samples were sent for DNA analysis to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

"It is a positive development and a push to ongoing investigation. We will be able to present a powerful case now in the court," said an official.

"The autopsy of the bones will be conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The investigators will prepare a questionnaire and send it to the medics who will prepare the autopsy report which will help gain all relevant information regarding the case," said sources.

As all the recovered body parts are decomposed, it is very difficult to get any significant result from the autopsy, said an official, adding that a portion of jaw or a fragment of skull recovered may help investigators in determining the time of death by the carbon dating process.

Meanwhile, Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena has approved a proposal of Delhi Police for appointment of Special Public Prosecutors, Madhukar Pandey and Amit Prasad, Advocates, to represent the state in the Shraddha Walkar murder case.

"Advocate Madhukar Pandey and Advocate Amit Prasad will accordingly represent the Delhi Police as Special Public Prosecutors in the matter," officials said.

Shraddha and Aaftab had met through the dating app 'Bumble' in 2018. They had come to Delhi on May 8 and shifted to the Chattarpur area on May 15. On May 18, Aaftab allegedly killed Shraddha, chopped her body into 35 pieces and dumped them across various places over a period of 18 days.