Manikpur police learnt of the four women while probing Walkar’s missing report; cops say as case took a complex turn, they didn’t get chance to trace them
Aftab Poonawala. Pic/Facebook
Aftab Poonawala, who killed his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar on May 18, had dated at least four women in the city before Walkar, said a source from the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police. Of these four women, two were from Vasai and are traceable while the two others, one from Bandra and the other from Borivli, are yet to be traced.
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After Walkar’s family filed a missing person complaint, the Manikpur police formed a special investigation team to probe the matter. “The special investigating team had retrieved crucial details about Walkar and also Poonawala, whom she was dating at the time, from a dating app. It was also revealed that Poonawala had dated four girls. Two of them were Vasai residents and were traceable. The two others lived in Bandra and Borivli,” said a police officer.
Also read: Shraddha Walkar murder: Police start draining pond in search for remains
As per sources, Poonawala started dating through the app in June 2013 and went out with these four women before getting into a relationship with Walkar in 2018. “As the investigation gained pace in the missing person’s complaint, the special investigation team led by Assistant Inspector Sachin Sanap did not get a chance to trace the remaining two girls to ascertain if they are missing, dead or alive,” a police source told mid-day.
The source added, “Given the chilling murder committed by Poonawala, the police need to ascertain if these two women are okay. A thorough investigation is required to ascertain if it was his first such act or if he has done this before as well.”
An insider from the Manikpur police station told mid-day that the missing person case “had started to take a complex turn” as the investigation went on. “It was the reason that the investigating team had been asked to take the help of crime branch officials. Initially, a few details about the four women were shared with the crime branch, but they did not provide any further details to learn the status of the two girls from Borivli and Bandra,” he added.
mid-day has also learnt that Delhi’s Mehrauli police, which is probing Walkar’s murder case, has written to the dating app to know the list of girls who Poonawala had gotten in touch with. Meanwhile, one of Walkar’s friends, in a statement to the police, said that Poonawala, who abused Walkar, would blackmail her whenever she tried to call off their relationship.
“He would always roam around with other girls but would never tolerate it if Walkar even talked to another man. He was very aggressive and manipulative. He would thrash her for the littlest things,” Walkar’s friend said.
June
Month in 2013 when Poonawala started dating on an app
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