Aaftab Ameen Poonawala, the accused in the murder of Shraddha Walkar, has changed lawyers yet again. Aaftab Poonawala has replaced the public prosecutor who was assigned to him with Akshay Bhandari as his lawyer.
Aaftab has switched attorneys for the second time.
Poonawala is accused of strangling and chooping the body into pieces of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar.
Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar noted that Poonawala had hired a new private lawyer in place of the legal aid attorney, and that the new lawyer requested more time to respond to the prosecution’s arguments on accusations.
“Counsel seeks adjournment to address arguments on charges. He is being given one last chance because he has lately been engaged. It is stated unequivocally that no further opportunity will be provided,” the judge stated.
The case has been scheduled for the further hearing on March 31.
Meanwhile, the court granted the victim’s father and complainant Vikas Walkar’s application to attend the hearings through video conferencing.
The Delhi Police told the court earlier on March 20 that there are “incriminating circumstances revealed through reliable and clinching evidence that form a chain of events.”
Poonawala has been charged with murder and causing the loss of evidence of an offence under sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, respectively.
Poonawala allegedly killed his live-in partner Walkar on May 18, last year, and sawed her body into multiple parts, which he kept in a freezer for about three weeks at his home in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area. He allegedly subsequently scattered the remains across Delhi, some of which have since been recovered.
