Aftab withdraws his bail plea in Shraddha Walkar murder case, lawyer says 'miscommunication'

New Delhi, Dec 22: New Delhi, Dec 22: Aftab Poonawala has withdrawn his bail application filed in a Delhi court in connection with the brutal murder of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar.

"Chargesheet not filed yet but Aftab's bail application filed. Aftab denied giving permission to his advocate to file for bail. His advocate should have stood for humanity first and then for a criminal. However, today he withdrew the bail application," ANI quoted Shraddha's father's advocate in a tweet.

The court dismissed Poonawala's bail plea as withdrawn and not pressed, PTI reported.

In the last hearing on December 17, Poonawala's advocate sought time to seek instructions from his client. Poonawala had informed the court through an email that though he signed on the vakalatnama, he was not aware that his advocate was going to file a bail plea on his behalf, according to the report.

Poonawala, 28, allegedly sawed Walkar's body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days.

Background
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.

An FIR was registered against the attackers under Sections 186, 353, 147, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Prashant Vihar Police Station in connection with the case.