Shraddha Murder Case: Plea moved in Delhi HC seeking transfer of investigation to CBI

Aftab in Delhi Police custody. File Pic/ PTI

A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking a transfer of investigation in the Shraddha murder case from Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The plea, which has been moved by a practising lawyer of Delhi, stated that investigation by Delhi Police, in this case, cannot be efficiently carried out due to administrative/staff paucity as well as lack of sufficient technical and scientific equipment to find out the evidence and the witness as the incident had taken place about six months back.

It further stated that the minute and sensitive details of the investigation by the Delhi Police have been revealed to the public through the media. The presence of media and other public persons at the place of recoveries, court hearings etc. of any accused amounts to their interference with the evidence and witnesses in the present case.

It also stated that the Delhi Police have not sealed the alleged place of the incident to date which is continuously being accessed by the public and media personnel.

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The plea stated that in the present case, pertaining to a heinous and sensitive offence u/s 302/201 IPC and in the same sensitive information pertaining to the Investigation regarding recoveries, evidences etc. are being leaked continuously by the Police Station Mehrauli on a daily basis jeopardizing every material evidence and witness so far gathered, it added mentioning that the alleged crime scenes and scene of recoveries are being contaminated by public persons and media personnel on a daily basis due to the unfiltered disclosure of information by the Delhi Police.

"The forensic evidence in the present case has not been preserved properly by the Delhi Police since all the alleged recoveries are being touched and accessed by different public persons and media personnel within the Mehrauli Police Station, alleged scene of crime i.e. house of the deceased, place of recoveries i.e. Mehrauli, Chhattarpur forest etc. which are clearly evident in the various news coverage of the present case," the plea read.

Due to faulty investigation, most of the heinous crimes result in the acquittal of the accused since as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 2021 only 44 per cent of murder cases result in a conviction, stated the plea.

The accused Aftab Amin Poonawalla was produced before a Delhi court through video conferencing last week, after five days of custody. The court then extended his police custody for another five days.

Aftab is accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walker and chopping her body into 35 pieces.

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