Both police stations did not act swiftly on complaints: Shraddha Walkar’s father demands action against cops

Mumbai, Dec 9: Vikas Walkar, father of Shraddha Walkar who was murdered allegedly by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, met Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police chief Madhukar Pandey and demanded action against the policemen who apparently did not act swiftly on two complaints.

Pandey has assured action against the erring officials, Vikas told reporters outside the MBVV police commissioner's office at Vasai in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Tuesday. This was the second meeting between the two.

According to Vikas, Shraddha had filed a complaint with the Tulinj police in 2020 accusing Poonawala of abusing and assaulting her, while he himself had approached the Manikpur police after his daughter went missing last year. Both police stations, which come under the jurisdiction of the MBVV, did not act on the complaints quickly, he had alleged earlier, as reported by PTI.

Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha and cut her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge at his residence in Mehrauli in south Delhi in May last year, before dumping them across the city over several days. He was arrested in Delhi in November.

A deputy commissioner of police from Vasai is carrying out a probe into the allegations of dereliction of duties, said Vikas on Tuesday. He was also apprised of the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) in the case.

Vikas said he was satisfied with the probe done by the Delhi police, which arrested Poonawala, and demanded maximum punishment for the accused.

A love story doomed from the start

Aftab and Shraddha met through a dating app Bumble in 2019 and later moved in together at a rented accommodation in Delhi's Chhattarpur area. Her parents were against the inter-faith relationship and had stopped talking to her after she decided to move to Delhi with him.

Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, and sawed her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his Mehrauli residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli, before dumping them across the city over several days in the dark of night.

Aftab was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days on November 17. On November 22, he was sent to police custody for four days. The court on November 26, sent him to judicial custody for 13 days.