JOIN USKilled Shraddha in 'rage', used saw for dismemberment, says Aftab during narco test
Shraddha Walkar murder accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala underwent a narco analysis test for almost two hours at a hospital in Rohini on Thursday as part of the ongoing investigation in the case, officials said.
They said Poonawala's narco test was completely successful and his health condition absolutely fine.
The process of the narco test has been completed, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda said.
The officials said Poonawala reached the Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini at 8.40 am and the narco test started around 10 am. After the test, he was kept under observation.
Twenty-eight-year-old Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner Walkar and cut 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.
Poonawala's narco test went smoothly, and during the test, he was asked a series of questions on the sequence of events that led to the killing, and how he later managed to dump the body parts, sources said.
"He was asked all the basic questions that were asked during police interrogation. Starting from his relationship with Walkar, the period the two started facing issues in their relationship and if he had physically assaulted her while they were dating," a source said.
"He was also asked if he had killed Walkar, to which he replied in the affirmative and claimed it was in a fit of rage. When asked about the weapon he used to chop her body, he said he used a saw," the source claimed.
The sources claimed that Poonawala said he had dumped the body parts in different forest areas. When asked about Walkar's phone, he said he threw it, but did not specify the location, they claimed.
The answers he gave during the narco test and a polygraph test held earlier will be analysed, and on Friday, he will be informed about the replies he gave, sources in the Rohini-based Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) said.
Also Read — Explained | What is a narco test?
They said a four-member team of the FSL along with the investigating officer of the case will visit Central Jail No.4 for a 'post-test interview' with Poonawala from 10 am to 3 pm, during which he will be informed about his replies.
This arrangement has been made as per a court order in view of the risk involved in his transportation, the sources said.
On November 28, a police van carrying Poonawala was attacked by some weapon-wielding people outside the FSL where he was taken for the polygraph test.
Before the Thursday narco test, Poonawala underwent a general check-up for blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature and heart beat, a senior official said.
A consent form with complete details of Poonawala and the team conducting his narco test was read out to him as part of the procedure. The procedure was started after he signed it, the official said.
Narco analysis involves intravenous administration of a drug (such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine and sodium amytal) that causes the person undergoing it to enter into various stages of anaesthesia.
In the hypnotic stage, the person becomes less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state.
Investigating agencies use this test after other pieces of evidence do not provide a clear picture of a case.
The Delhi Police had earlier said it sought Poonawala's narco analysis test as his responses during interrogation were "deceptive" in nature.
The Supreme Court has ruled that narco analysis, brain mapping, and polygraph tests cannot be conducted on any person without his or her consent.
Also, statements made during this test are not admissible as primary evidence in the court, except under certain circumstances when the bench thinks that the facts and nature of the case permit it.
Poonawala was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days on November 17. The court on November 26 sent him to judicial custody for 13 days.