Apr 17, 2025 06:08 AM IST
The Delhi Police, however, opposed the plea on the grounds that the case of the prosecution may be prejudiced if the possession of the flat is handed back to the landlord
A Delhi court is set to decide on Thursday a plea seeking the release of property moved by the landlord of the house where 28-year-old Aftab Poonawalla allegedly murdered and dismembered his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar three years ago.
In his application moved earlier this month before additional sessions judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar of the Saket court, the landlord pleaded that his property—a first-floor flat in Mehrauli’s Chhattarpur Pahadi—ought to be handed back to him from police possession as the charge sheet in the case has been filed and trial is in the final stages. According to him, all the material evidence and photographs of the flat are already part of the case record.
The Delhi Police, however, opposed the plea on the grounds that the case of the prosecution may be prejudiced if the possession of the flat is handed back to the landlord. The police, in its reply, stated that a need may arise for a local inspection of the flat by the court under Section 310 of CrPC, the circumstances for which cannot be ruled out before the recording of evidence is completed.
Section 310 of the CrPC allows a judge or magistrate to visit and inspect a place where an alleged offence occurred to understand the evidence presented during a trial of a case.
On May 18, 2022, 28-year-old Aftab Poonawalla, a trained chef, allegedly murdered and dismembered the body of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar. Poonawalla subsequently stored Walker’s body parts in a 300-litre fridge for a few days, before disposing of the parts over the next 18 days at the Chhattarpur forest.
Poonawalla was arrested by Delhi Police on November 12, 2022, after police ascertained discrepancies in his statement. Since the incident, the Chhattarpur flat remains locked and part of the case record.
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