Shraddha murder case update: In a big twist in the sensational Shraddha Walkar murder case, accused Aftab Amin Poonawala's lawyer has said he has never confessed to killing his live-in partner.
Defence counsel Abinash Kumar, who is representing Aftab Poonawala in court, said he met him for a short duration of time on Tuesday (November 22) during which he appeared 'confident and relaxed'.
"He has never confessed in the court of law that he killed (Shraddha) Walkar," Kumar told news agency PTI.
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"I spoke to Poonawala for five-seven minutes today. When I spoke to him in the morning, he appeared relaxed and was very confident. He did not show any signs of aggressiveness," the lawyer added.
Delhi Police's brutal murder angle
The statement by Aftab's lawyer is in contrast with the Delhi Police's assertion that he has confessed to strangling Shraddha, 26, to death and then butchering her body into 35 parts and dumping them at different locations across Delhi. According to police, Shraddha was killed on May 18 this year and Aftab kept her body parts in fridge and disposed them of over several days.
Where is Aftab's family?
Aftab's family has gone missing from their Mumbai house soon after the murder case came to light. Advocate Abinash Kumar said the family is scared to come out and they are waiting for the matter to subside a bit.
"They are scared after what has happened and wish to stay out of media glare for now. Even I have not been able to meet them yet. I am also planning to file a plea in the court to get in touch with Poonawala's family," he added.
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Aftab's polygraphy test
Aftab Poonawala, 28, is likely to undergo polygraphy test on Wedneday (November 23), however, it is uncertain if the test process will be completed tomorrow.
On Tuesday, a court granted the Delhi Police four more days of custody of Aftab Poonawala. The five-day custody granted earlier ended on Tuesday.
The court noted that in the application seeking the extension of Poonawala's police remand, the investigating officer said some more body parts of the deceased including her jaws were recovered from a jungle on November 20.
The IO also requested for the extension of his police custody on the ground that more body parts or bones and weapons can be recovered on the basis of the disclosures made by the accused, the court said.
It is further submitted that a rough site plan has been found at the house of the accused which may assist in the search and custodial interrogation, the court said, adding the accused will also be required to connect the chain of events in the crime.
(With inputs from PTI)