Aftab Poonawala (Shraddha Murder Case) Age, Caste, Religion, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Aftab Amin Poonawala [1]Hindustan Times
Other Name(s)	• Aftab Poonawalla • Aftab Amin Poonawalla • Aaftab Poonawala • Aftab Poonawala
Profession(s)	• Graphic Designer • Food Blogger
Known For	Murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walker by strangling her to death and chopping off her body into 35 pieces before dumping it in the forest area of Chhatarpur in Delhi in 2022
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in feet & inches- 5’ 6”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth	23 June 1994 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2022)	28 Years
Birthplace	Vasai, Maharashtra
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Vasai, Maharashtra
School	St. Francis High School in Vasai West, Maharashtra [2]Aaftab Poonawala - Facebook
College/University	L. S. Raheja College, Mumbai [3]Aaftab Poonawala - Facebook
Educational Qualification	Bachelor of Management Studies (2012-2015) [4]Aaftab Poonawala - Facebook
Religion	Aaftab Poonawala follows Islam. Reportedly, he belongs to the Khoja community, [5]The Times of India a Muslim community converted from Hinduism to Islam in the 14h century under the influence of peers/pirs (the Sufi spiritual guides).
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Affairs/Girlfriends	Shraddha Walker
Family
Wife/Spouse	N/A
Parents	Father- Amin Jafarali Poonawala (wholesale supplier of shoes) Mother- Munira Amin Poonawala (homemaker)
Siblings	Brother- Ahad Amin Poonawala
Other Relative	Grandfather- Jafarali Poonawala

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aftab Poonawala

• Aftab Poonawala, an Indian graphic designer and food blogger, is accused of murdering Shraddha Walker, 27, and chopping her body before dumping it in the forest area of Chhatarpur in Delhi.

• Reportedly, in 2018, Aftab and Shraddha met through ‘Bumble,’ an online dating app, in Mumbai.
  

  Aftab and Shraddha

• Aftab and Shraddha decided to shift to Delhi in March 2022 and started living in a rented house in the Chhatarpur area, Mehrauli, when their parents did not accept their relationship. Some media sources claim that Aftab shifted to Delhi, believing that he would get better opportunities in Delhi in the IT sector; however, Shraddha left her house and moved in with Aftab when her parents refused to accept her relationship with him.

• In an interview, Shraddha’s friend Rajat Shukla disclosed that Shraddha was in a violent relationship with Aftab. Rajat mentioned that Shraddha once told her friends about Aftab’s aggressive behaviour and that she wanted to get out of this relationship, but she could not. Rajat Shukla, in the interview, said,
  

  Today suddenly the news flashed on the mobile of her murder. I was shaken to the core of my soul that my friend has been murdered. She had told us in 2019 that she was in a relationship since 2018. They lived together. Initially, they lived happily, but then Shraddha started saying that Aaftab beats her. She wanted to leave him but couldn’t do so.” ^[6]The Times of India

• Reportedly, the couple was facing arguments frequently, and their relationship started becoming sour. The duo even decided to take a trip to the hills in the month of March and April for a new beginning of their relationship. ^[7]The Times of India The couple, however, again started having arguments. On 18 May 2022, Aftab, in anger, after being pressurised by Shraddha for getting married, strangled her to death and chopped off her body into 35 pieces using a saw and kept it in a 300-litre refrigerator, which he bought from the local market, in his rented flat in Delhi. Reportedly, Aftab threw the pieces in different places across the city in a row. According to some sources, Aftab and Shraddha would often argue over bringing household items and bearing daily expenses.
  

  The refrigerator in which Aftab kept Shraddha’s body in pieces

• Reportedly, he stored ice creams and other things in the refrigerator along with Shraddha’s body.

• Reportedly, after being informed by one of Shraddha’s friends in September 2022 about Shraddha’s disappearance for almost 2.5 months, Shraddha’s father lodged a missing complaint at Manickpur police station in Vasai, Maharashtra on 12 October 2022. The case was later transferred to Mehrauli police station in New Delhi based on Shraddha’s last location. ^[8]The Times of India

• On 11 November 2022, Aftab Poonawala was arrested from his house in Chhatarpur under the IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence of an offence committed). ^[9]The Times of India
  

  Accused Aftab Poonawala, along with Delhi police personnel, at Mehrauli Police Station in New Delhi on 14 November 2022

• According to reports, Aftab read the human anatomy and watched crime web series and movies before murdering Shraddha. ^[10]Hindustan Times Reportedly, Aftab watched ‘Dexter,’ an American crime drama web series, and hatched the plan to commit such a heinous crime. ^[11]NDTV

• Reportedly, after killing Shraddha, Aftab would take some pieces of her body wrapped in a black foil and throw them in the forest area of Chhatarpur, Delhi, without the foil ^[12]NDTV and feed some of the pieces to the strays. ^[13]The Times of India
  

  Accused Aftab Poonawala being taken to the forest area in Mehrauli near Delhi, where he allegedly disposed of pieces of Shraddha’s body

• According to media sources, Aftab googled the ways to clean the floor with blood stains. ^[14]The Times of India Reportedly, he used Shraddha’s social media account ^[15]The Times of India and paid her credit card bills till June 2022 to avoid suspicion. ^[16]The Times of India

• Reportedly, Aftab continued living in the same apartment after committing the crime. According to the officials, Aftab dated other women who allegedly visited him at the flat; the police used his account on the dating app to track down the women he dated. ^[17]DNA

• Reportedly, Shraddha’s father, Vikash Walker, suspected Aftab’s involvement in the disappearance of his daughter and believed that there must be a ‘love jihad’ angle in the case of his daughter’s murder. In an interview, Vikash Walker said,
  

  I suspected a love jihad angle. We demand the death penalty for Aftab. I trust Delhi Police and the probe moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn’t talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the first complaint in Mumbai’s Vasai.” ^[18]DT Next

  

  The missing FIR filed by Shraddha’s father, Vikash Madan Walkar

• During the investigation, it was found that Shraddha had feared that Aftab would cut her into pieces in a complaint, dated 23 November 2020, to the police at Tilunj in their hometown, Vasai, in Maharashtra. Reportedly, she registered the complaint by writing a letter to the cops after Aftab beat her up at a flat they shared. ^[19]NDTV In the letter, Shraddha wrote,
  

  Today he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scares me and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away. It’s been six months he has been hitting me but I did not have the guts to go to the police because he would threaten to kill me.”

  

  Shraddha Walker’s letter to the police at Tilunj in Vasai, Maharashtra

• On 22 December 2022, Aftab withdrew his bail plea that was filed before the court on 15 December 2022. According to Poonawala’s private advocate M.S. Khan, the bail application was moved because of “miscommunication” between him and the accused. ^[20]The Hindu On 23 December 2022, a Delhi court extended his judicial custody by 14 days. ^[21]The Hindu

• On 9 May 2023, the Saket Court in Delhi framed charges of murder against him in the Shraddha Walker murder case. While pronouncing the order, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Manisha Khurana Kakkar said,
  

  On May 18, 2022, after 6:30 am, you committed the murder of Shraddha Walkar and the offence is punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Between May 18 and October 18, knowing that offence has been committed, you cut her body into pieces with an intention to disappear evidence, and disposed of her body in Chattarpur and in other places. You have, thereby, committed the offence of disappearance of evidence.” ^[22]India Today