Aftab Poonawala, accused of murdering his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar, underwent the narco test on Thursday at a hospital in Delhi's Rohini. The test, which went on for almost two hours, was successfully completed, officials said.
Narco test involves intravenous administration of a drug that causes the person undergoing it to enter into various stages of anesthesia. Drugs such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine and sodium amytal lower a person's self-consciousness and make the person go into a hypnotic state or sedated state.
Aftab was kept under observation after the test and his health condition is “absolutely fine”, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda said.
Before the narco test, Aftab underwent a general check-up for blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature and heartbeat, a senior official said. A consent form with complete details of the team conducting his narco test was read out to him as part of the procedure. The procedure was started after he signed it, PTI reported.
Ahead of the court-permitted narco test on Thursday, Aftab underwent multiple rounds of polygraph tests earlier this week. Unlike the narco test, polygraph test is a non-invasive method. According to reports, he confessed to the crime during the polygraph test at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Rohini, but showed no signs of remorse.
What next for the probe team?
Aftab is likely to be taken back to the FSL on Friday. According to FSL sources, the answers he gave during his polygraph and narco tests will be analysed. He will be informed about the replies he gave. Though confessions during these tests cannot be produced as evidence in court, these techniques are used by investigating agencies to get to the truth and gather evidence.
If polygraph and narco tests lead to no consensus, the investigators probing the murder case may go for Aftab’s brain mapping to get the leads, Firstpost stated in a report quoting an FSL source.
The Delhi Police had sought Aftab's narco analysis test as his responses during interrogation were "deceptive" in nature.
Aftab allegedly strangled Shraddha on May 18, chopped her body int multiple pieces and disposed of them in different parts of the city. The Delhi police have reportedly recovered 13 body parts from the Mehrauli forest area but have not been able to ascertain if they belong to Shraddha. The DNA test results are not yet available. Experts have raised questions over the delay in DNA profiling.
He was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days. The court on November 26 sent him to judicial custody for 13 days.
-with agency inputs
