Shraddha Walkar murder: ‘Aftab called me to Delhi, planned to kill me there'

The brutal murder of Shradhha Walkar by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala came to light because she was a nominee for her estranged parents' assets. Her father, Vikas Walkar, in an exclusive interview with mid-day, narrates how he started to look for his daughter in August 2022 as he needed her signature. Citing that Poonawala had asked him to visit Delhi multiple times to register a missing complaint, Vikas shared that he suspects that Poonawala had planned to kill him in a similar manner too.

Vikas also claimed that Poonwala's parents were aware of the murder but tried to save their son. He also revealed how the botched up probe by Manikpur police gave Poonawala time to destroy evidence.

Shraddha Walkar

As per Vikas, Walkar had left her parents' house and moved in with Poonawala in October 2019. Her parents were not happy with this decision which eventually led to them being estranged. However, as Walkar was the eldest child, her parents had named her nominee for all their assets including investments, property and bank accounts. When her mother, Harshala, died in January 2020, Vikas wanted to update the bank details but was told by bank officials that they needed the signature/consent of the nominee, too.

Also read: Shraddha Walkar murder: As chilling details unravel, a look at 3 similar grisly killings that shook the nation

Friends lost touch in May '22

"The only means of contact I had was phone calls, however she would prefer to cut the conversation short. I suspect that it was Aftab who had told her not to share their address with me. As I needed her signature on the bank and post office documents, I asked her friends but none of them helped me," said Vikas.

Vikas Walkar, Shraddha's father. Pics/Hanif Patel

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the government announced a lockdown, "I was unable to step out of my home and find her," said Vikas, who had to wrap up his power products manufacturing workshops during the lockdown. "I started looking for her again after the restrictions were lifted. It was finally on September 14, 2020 that Shraddha's friend Laxman Nadar met my son in Vasai and said he had lost contact with her since May that year. Later, I met Laxman and Shraddha's other friends too, but all of them said that they were not in touch with her," he said.

Vikas added, "On September 23, 2022, I visited Aftab's parents in Vasai. His mother had at that time told me that Shraddha had moved to Delhi and that she had visited them in July 2022. When I asked where Shraddha was, Aftab's mother said she did not want to talk to or meet me. I found it suspicious and decided to approach Manikpur police."

Early ‘police' drama

Speaking about Manikpur police's handling of the case, he said, "I met Senior Inspector Sampat Patil at Manikpur police station but he refused to register a missing complaint and instead told me to approach Delhi police. After I insisted that he call Aftab as Shraddha and he lived together, he called Aftab who told him that they had broken up. Patil then asked Aftab to visit the police station."

Aftab Poonawala allegedly asked Vikas Walkar to visit Delhi in person to file missing complaint

"Accordingly, Aftab, along with his father Amin Poonawala and a maternal uncle, visited the police station on September 26. They thereafter visited my house and it was decided that Aftab would file a missing complaint in Delhi. Then on October 2, he called me and said he was at a police station but cops were refusing to file the complaint. When I asked to speak to a cop, he handed over the phone to another man. As I found this suspicious, I asked for the cop's phone number or to talk to him over the police station's landline. But the man refused. This bolstered my suspicion that Aftab had not visited a police station," he said.

Aftab's insistence

"Aftab, in the meanwhile, kept in touch with me and asked me to keep him in the loop regarding the investigation. He also asked me several times to visit Delhi to file a complaint there. Now I suspect that he might have been planning to eliminate me in a similar manner like he did with Shraddha," Vikas told mid-day.

He then visited the Vasai police station and was told to approach Manikpur police station instead. "Since Manikpur cops were not helping me, I met zonal DCP Sanjay Kumar Patil on October 3. The DCP directed Manikpur police to register the case, but the cops did not register a case and asked me to visit Delhi despite his order," he said.

Harshala Walkar, Shraddha's mother, died in January 2020, prompting Vikas to look for Shraddha

"It was finally on October 12 that I met API Sachin Sanap, who recorded my statement and a case was registered. Aftab and his father, too, were present at the police station," he said, adding that Aftab kept a close watch. "He is so smart that he would misguide the police also. I had asked API Sanap to arrest Aftab, but the cop had told me that they would first have to check his call detail record before arriving at a conclusion."

Cops' actions

When asked how the Manikpur cops handled the case, Vikas told mid-day, "Cops had called Aftab to the police station on the eve of Diwali but did not inform me about it. I saw Aftab and his father at the police station when I went there to ask for updates. API Sanap questioned Aftab about Shraddha's whereabouts, but he refused to speak anything in my presence. API Sanap asked me to wait outside for around 45 minutes and then let Aftab and his father go. The cop, however, did not tell me what Aftab told them."

"API Sanap then called me on November 4 to tell me that they needed to go to Delhi to investigate the matter and that I would have to accompany him. But then he called me on November 9 from Delhi and asked me to go there immediately but I could not," he said.

Murder confession

"The next morning (November 10), I got a call from a Delhi police officer who asked me to reach Delhi by afternoon. I reached Delhi by evening and met the cops at Mehrauli police station with the hopes that they had traced my daughter. Late that night, a police officer brought Aftab and he said, ‘Shraddha is no more.' I could not believe it," said Vikas.

He added, "Aftab told the cops that after killing my daughter, he washed her body and kept it in the bathroom overnight before chopping her body into pieces and discarding them. But I could barely hear what he said as I was shocked."

"Had API Sanap arrested Aftab after filing the missing complaint, they could have recovered solid evidence. The fact that cops let him move between Delhi and Mumbai for so long gave him time to destroy the evidence. I also feel that his parents were aware of the murder and that is the reason that they shifted out of their Vasai flat when I was in Delhi. Delhi cops should investigate their role in the crime too," Vikas said. He, however, added, "I am thankful to zonal DCP Sanjay Kumr Patil for directing the cops to register the missing complaint, or else Aftab would have gotten away with the horrendous murder."

Waiting for last rites

The Walkar family is now waiting to perform Shraddha's last rites. "We have not been able to perform the last rites yet as the police are yet to handover the pieces of her body that they have recovered. Delhi cops said they would hand them over once the investigation is complete," he said and added that Walkar's death certificate, too, would be issued after the probe is done.

Sept 23
Day in 2022 when Vikas first went to Manikpur police