Shraddha Walkar murder case: No inquiry into MBVV police’s lapse yet!

Inaction by Tulinj police on Shraddha Walkarrsquos complaint of domestic abuse in 2020 and then delay by Manikpur police in filing a missing report in August this year have become points of contention in connection with Walkarrsquos brutal murder It has been a week since state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that there would be a probe into why Tulinj police did not act on the November 2020 complaint filed by Walkar but no inquiry has been initiated so far midday has learnt Zonal DCP Suhas Bavche said ldquoI have received no such orders When and if the order comes I will definitely follow itrdquoAftab PoonawalaThe delay in filing the missing report filed by Walkarrsquos father and the action taken thereafter have irked Delhi police which are investigating the murder Criminal lawyers said that prompt action by Manikpur police in the missing complaint would have significantly helped the investigationAlso Read Shraddha Walkar murder case I need counselling says psychologist who dated Aftab Poonawala90day delayWalkarrsquos father Vikas had first approached Manikpur police on August 15 to register a missing complaint but the cops turned him away Vikas then approached the DCP as well as the divisional ACP As per sources the ACP had directed Manikpur police to register the missing report on October 6 but it was eventually filed on October 12 and finally Poonawala was arrested on November 11 almost 90 days after Vikas first approached policeCCTV grabs from October 18 showing Poonawala with two bags in MehrauliDelhi police have taken note of the lapse by Manikpur police under the Mira BhayanderVasai Virar commissionerate A cop from Delhi told midday ldquoIt cannot be ruled out that there is delay in action by Manikpur police But we cannot comment on it as it is subject to state police inquiryrdquoThe officer added ldquoIf and when required as part of our investigation we will surely record statements of MBVV cops about several things including when they received the complaint when they called Aftab and most importantly why they did not alert us even after knowing Shraddha was living in DelhirdquoldquoWe must add that when Manikpur police called Aftab for questioning some parts of Walkarrsquos body were probably still in the Mehrauli flat Had they alerted us we could have nabbed him redhanded with the pieces of the bodyrdquo the cop addedManikpur police claim to have called Poonawala for the first time for questioning on October 20 A CCTV footage dated October 18 shows Aftab walking in his Delhi neighbourhood early in the morning with two bags The police suspect he was carrying body parts in these bags to dispose of them in the forest area2020 complaintWalkar had on November 23 2020 approached Tulinj police saying that Poonawala tried to kill her Her complaint letter which resurfaced recently after her murder was discovered read ldquoHe Poonawala tried to kill me by suffocating me He scares and blackmails me that he will kill me cut me up in pieces and throw me away It has been 6 months since he has been hitting me but I did not have the guts to go to the police because he would threaten to kill merdquoThis case was closed on December 19 2020 without the police taking any action in the matter An officer attached to Tulinj police station said ldquoShe had given a letter saying that Aftabrsquos parents intervened and sorted out the matter Since she had no complaint against him anymore there was no point for a police officer to further investigate if the complainant withdraws hisher grievancesrdquoPoonam Bidlani a social worker who had helped Walkar submit the complaint said ldquoAfter filing the complaint I had suggested that she stay at my place But she left and did not show up on November 24 the day when the FIR was supposed to be filed Later in the evening she told me that the matter was resolvedrdquoWalkarrsquos former team leader Karan B said ldquoAftabrsquos father knew that an FIR would land his son in legal trouble So he convinced Shraddha to not go ahead with the FIR Shraddha had told me that at that time Aftabrsquos father had promised that Aftab would leave her alone But the duo still continued to live togetherrdquoLawyer SpeakDarshana Tripathi a senior criminal lawyer at Vasai court told midday ldquoTulinj police should have investigated her November 2020 complaint immediately While she withdrew her complaint after 24 hours had the police started an investigation right after the filing of the complaint the situation would have been differentrdquoSpeaking on Manikpur policersquos delay in filing the missing report Tripathi said ldquoThe delay of almost 90 days is long enough time for the criminal to destroy evidence This is a clear negligence on the part of MBVV policerdquoCase timelineNov 23 2020 Shraddha Walkar files complaint against Aftab Poonawala with Tulinj policeNov 24 2020 She withdraws the complaintDec 19 2020 Tulinj police close her complaintAug 15 2022 Walkarrsquos father Vikas approaches Manikpur police to register a missing report but cops send him awayOct 6 ACP directs Manikpur police to register missing reportOct 12 Manikpur police register missing complaintOct 20 Investigating Officer API Sachin Sanap first contacts Poonawala over phoneOct 23 Poonawala meets API Sanap at Manikpur police stationNov 3 Poonawala again visits the police station for questioningNov 9 Manikpur police inform Delhi policeNov 10 Mehrauli police file FIR against PoonawalaNovember 11 Cops arrest Poonawala