Aftab Poonawala, the accused in the gruesome murder of his live-in partner, took almost 10 hours to finish chopping her body into over 35 pieces after he smothered her on May 18 evening, reports said on Thursday. He also charred her face in such a way that it becomes unidentifiable even if the body parts are discovered.
Keen to discard evidence of his crime, Aftab first disposed of those body parts which could stink quickly.
"Accused Aftab told the police that he used bleach to destroy the evidence, and also used chemicals so that not a single stain of blood remained on the floor," ANI quoted police sources as saying.
There was no remorse visible on his face during the interrogation. "When the police officer talks to the accused in Hindi, he replies in English. He sleeps peacefully in the police station lockup all night. After the murder, the friends of the accused Aftab also came to the house..but during that time he had hidden the parts somewhere else," the sources told the news agency.
Meanwhile a TV channel claimed on Thursday that the accused took almost 10 hours to chop her body into pieces and wash them. He took breaks in between and drank beers and smoked cigarettes.
After finishing his job, Aftab ordered food on Zomato and watched a movie on Netflix, the report said.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Thursday extended Aftab's police custody by five days and also gave permission to conduct the narco analysis test on the accused.
Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla passed the order while allowing police plea in the matter.
Even though Shraddha was killed on May 18, the horrific details of the crime started emerging on Monday when Aftab was arrested and interrogated by Delhi Police.
The duo met on a dating app in 2019 and had been together since then. Earlier this year, they moved to Delhi following their families' objection to their relationships, and started staying at a rented apartment in Chhattarpur Pahadi.
Police said the couple used to have frequent arguments over financial issues and it is suspected that there was also a fight between them that resulted in Aftab killing 27-year-old Shraddha on the evening of May 18.
He allegedly strangled her and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight.
