Mehrauli murder: DNA report of hair, bone matches with Shraddha’s father

Delhi: The brutality involved in Shraddha Walkar’s murder by her live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawalla, was officially confirmed after the mitochondrial DNA report had confirmed hair and bone samples matched with her father’s samples.

Confirming the development, the Special Commissioner of Police (law and order), Sagar Preet Hooda, said the bones and hair (where DNA couldn’t be extracted) were sent to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) Hyderabad for ‘DNA mitochondrial profiling’.

The brutality involved in Shraddha Walkar’s murder by her live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawalla, was officially confirmed after the mitochondrial DNA report had confirmed hair and bone samples matched with her father’s samples.

“Today the result has been received. One piece of bone and a bunch of hair purported to be of the deceased have matched with that of her father and brother which establishes the identity of the bone and hair to be that of Shradhdha Walker,” said the Special CP.

“The bones will now be sent for post-mortem examination to be conducted by a medical board in AIIMS,” said the Special CP.

Aaftab was arrested on November 12 in connection with the case. The Delhi Police teams investigating the case had recovered 13 bone pieces after Aaftab told the investigators that he chopped her body into several pieces and dumped them into the Mehrauli forest area.

The blood samples were also recovered, from the bathroom and kitchen, by forensic officials in the Chattarpur house, where both Poonawalla and Walkar had shifted on May 15, three days before her murder.

“It is a positive development and a push to an ongoing investigation. We will be able to present a powerful case now in the court,” said an official.

Shraddha and Aaftab had met through the dating app ‘Bumble’ in 2018. They had come to Delhi on May 8 and shifted to the Chattarpur area on May 15. On May 18, Aaftab allegedly killed Shraddha, chopped her body into 35 pieces and dumped them across various places over a period of 18 days.