Why Aaftab, Shraddha fought on May 18, the day of murder? How a lie and Rs 54,000 bank transfer led to killer's arrest?

The investigation in the grisly murder of Shraddha Walkar allegedly by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala has so far made this clear that the couple fought frequently over issues, including marriage. However, it was a fight over who would pay for household expenses that escalated to Aaftab killing Shraddha on May 18 evening, as per sources quoted by NDTV. 

According to the report, their fight began over buying some household items. As the fight escalated, Aaftab stangled Shraddha to death between 8 and 10 pm. 

Meanwhile, The Indian Express quoted sources saying that the two had recently been arguing over who would go to Mumbai to fetch their luggage to Delhi – since both of them were facing a cash crunch.

While Aaftab kept the body in the same room overnight, he went to buy a knife and fridge the next day to chop the body and store it. Investigation has revealed that the accused sawed the body into 35 pieces, kept them in the 300-litre fridge, and then dumped them in the Chhatarpur jungle over the next 18 days.

The horrifying murder plot unraveled over the past month after Shraddha’s parents, who had not spoken to her in a year as they didn’t approve the inter-faith relationship between her and Aaftab, approached the police in Vasai in Maharashtra. They went to the cops after being told by Shraddha’s friends that she had been out of touch for months. 

The Vasai Police called Aaftab to know Shraddha’s whereabouts, but his answers raised doubts, following which it tied up with the Delhi Police. 

Called for questioning on October 26, Aaftab told the cops that Shraddha had left their rented flat in Delhi’s Mehrauli after a quarrel on May 22, reports NDTV. Notably, he had already killed Shraddha on May 18, barely two weeks after they had moved to Delhi. 

He told the investigators that Shraddha had taken only her mobile phone and had left all other belongings behind. 

On tracking the woman’s phone activity, call details and signal locations, the cops found that Rs 54,000 had been transferred from Shraddha’s account to Aaftab’s between May 22 and 26, via the banking app on her phone. 

Also, the phone location was in Mehrauli, where they had rented the flat. This grew the suspicion as Aaftab had told the cops that he was not in touch with Shraddha since May 22 when she left.

Earlier this month, he was again called for questioning when he told the police that he made the bank transfers as he had her passwords. He had been paying Shraddha’s credit cards bills so that bank officials don’t try to reach out to her at her Mumbai residence. 

During the probe, the cops also found that Aaftab had been using Shraddha’s Instagram account to make it look like she was alive. From the chats, they found that the location was Mehrauli again. Officers from Vasai's Manikpur police station then contacted Delhi Police.

Aaftab was then asked by the cops as to how Shraddha’s locatio was still Mehrauli when she had left him on May 22. It was then that Aaftab admitted to the crime and narrated the inhuman act he committed.

Shraddha’s friends have told the police that she wanted to leave Aaftab as he often beat her up on suspicion of cheating and other issues. She, too, had made up her mind several times to quit the relationship, but the accused would emotionally blackmail her to stay back, threatening to commit suicide if she left.