Aaftab Poonawala, who is in judicial custody for killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, read articles on criminal cases watched hours of video footage of Hollywood star Johnny Depp’s high-profile lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard in preparation for investigations, Delhi Police officials said.
According to officials, Poonawalla monitored Heard’s domestic abuse allegations and the defamation court trail Depp won in June, according to his internet search history. Officials said after he murdered Walker, he studied the behaviour of people and old and famous crime cases in order to find legal loopholes in preparation for the future investigation into his crimes, according to a TOI article.
Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner Walkar and cut her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge at his house in South Delhi’s Mehrauli for three weeks before dumping them across the city. Delhi Police officials have described him as a clever and calm man who has repeatedly tried to misguide the investigation.
Officials who have noted his fondness for chess in the Tihar jail have said that: “Aftab is very cunning. His every move seems part of a well-planned conspiracy as if he is playing alone from both ends…”, according to a NDTV report.
Officials have also suspected his “good behaviour” and conducted multiple rounds of polygraph tests and a narco analysis test as his responses during interrogation were “deceptive” in nature.
The Narco analysis which was conducted last week involves the 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. After becoming less inhibited during the hynosis stage, the person is able to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state. Unlike the narco test, a polygraph test is a non-invasive method. The Supreme Court has ruled that narco-analysis, brain mapping, and polygraph tests cannot be conducted on any person without his or her consent.
Poonawalla has confessed to killing Walker during the polygraph test at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Rohini but showed no signs of remorse.
Police officials are also suspecting Poonawala’s ‘rehearsed’ answers given by him. “Aftab’s behaviour and good conduct are under question. How can there be one answer to each question? It looks like the accused has already rehearsed the answers,” officials told ANI.
Poonawala had tried to misguide Delhi and Mumbai police earlier into the investigation with wrong information and later confessed to his crimes.
If polygraph and narco tests lead to no consensus, the investigators are likely to approach holding a brain mapping conducted to get the leads, Firstpost stated in a report quoting an FSL source.
Officials found that Poonawalla watched US show Dexter and researched the internet on disposing corpses and chemicals to use for removing blood stains. According to a Times of India report, investigators found he bought several chemicals online and from shops, however, he refused to give proper replies when confronted during questioning.
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