Aftab undergoes pending polygraph sessions at FSL Rohini

New Delhi, Nov 28: The remaining sessions of the polygraph test on Aftab Amin Poonawala, who is accused of brutally killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, got underway at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Rohini on Monday.

According to the report, the accused will be asked to respond to some still unanswered questions related to the alleged crime. The officials added that they will proceed with Poonawala's narco analysis either on Monday or Tuesday, if the polygraph test is concluded on Monday.

Aftab reached FSL at 9.50 am and the sessions began at around 11 am, an official informed PTI.

''When the last session was held, there was a health issue due to which some sessions were not satisfactory. Our lab and preparation for the narco test is complete,'' Head of the Department of Crime Scene Management at FSL, Rohini, Sanjeev Gupta, said.

''Whether Aftab is cooperating during the test or not, we will tell the investigating agency as this is a confidential matter,'' he said.

Poonawala has already undergone three sessions of the test, also known as lie detector test, the last being held for about three hours on Friday.

Earlier, a senior FSL official said Aftab can be called again if the experts are not satisfied with the report. Based on the outcome of the report, a decision will be taken on conducting narco analysis which can be carried out even if he is sent to judicial custody.

A series of questions related to the case such as the sequences of events that led to the murder, the accused's relationship with Walkar, reason for their strained relationship, place where he dumped the body parts, type of weapon used, were among some of the questions asked in the test, reported PTI.

Aftab's narco test likely on Dec 5:

Aftab is likely to undergo narco test on December 5 which will be conducted at Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital once the polygraph test is complete. The test is conducted by injecting sodium pentothal, also called 'truth serum' into a person, thus reducing an individual's self-consciousness. In such a sleep-like state, efforts are made to obtain probative truth about the crime. The dose of the injected substance is decided as per the person's sex, age, health, and physical condition, according to PTI report.

The accused is then interrogated by the investigating agencies in the presence of doctors. The revelations made during this stage are video recorded. Based on his statements, the report prepared by the expert is used in the process of collecting evidence. The procedure is conducted at a government hospital, after a court order permitting the same.

When it began to end for Shraddha:

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 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, before dumping them across the city over several days.

The police said that the couple would fight regularly over issues such as marriage and who would bear the household expenses. On May 18, he strangled her to death and then set out to buy a knife and fridge. Following a missing person's complaint filed by Shraddha's father on November 10 as her daughter was untraceable for over two months, the police arrested Aftab, six months after the crime took place.

Aftab was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days on November 17.