I feel I'm about to get justice: Shraddha's father

NEW DELHI: Expressing his sorrow over the murder of his daughter, Shraddha Walker's father on Thursday said that he had forbidden her from being in a relationship with Aftab Poonawalla (now accused in the case), however, she did not listen to him. The father of the deceased, Vikas Madan Walker, said that Shraddha considered Aftab a right man, which is why she did not listen to his advice of not being in a relationship with him.

Speaking to ANI, the deceased's father said that he is confident of getting justice after the Delhi Police is diving deep into the investigation. "Delhi Police realised that Aftab sometimes lies and sometimes speaks the truth. So, they applied for the Narco test. I feel I'm about to get justice. He should be hanged," he said.

He said that he felt that Aftab has been lying all along the investigation, while also doubting why the accused confessed to his crime right away. "I have been feeling since the beginning that Aftab has been lying all along. I said this firstly to Mumbai Police and then to Delhi Police. He confessed right away, I doubted even this. He was confusing us with his lies. I told the Mumbai Police repeatedly but I don't know why did they believe that he was telling the truth. Mumbai Police was working according to him. I could not argue much. It is their system," he said.

The father doubted that Aftab would have erased all the evidence during the six months after committing the murder on May 18. "He has a vicious mind which has erased all the evidence in 5-6 months. So, the police will have a problem bringing out the truth. I did not think initially that Aftab could do something like this. However, I had still forbidden Shraddha from having any relationship with him, but she did not listen to me. She considered Aftab right," he said.

"I will not rest until he is hanged," the father added. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has come across a fresh lead in the investigation of the Shraddha Walker murder case, in which they have found a pending water bill in accused Aftab Poonawalla's flat, given the circumstances that 20,000 litres of water in Delhi is provided free by the government, according to the sources.

The Delhi Police will present the accused before Saket Court today and seek his further custody. According to the sources, the police received information from the neighbours of Aftab that he has an outstanding water bill of Rs 300.

The police are likely to investigate this angle as the Delhi government gives 20,000 litres of water for free. Two neighbours living on the floor above Aftab had informed the police that the water bill of all the floors comes to zero, except for Aftab's, who had an outstanding due of Rs 300, thus rising suspicion. "After the murder, Aftab used a lot of water to clean the blood stains leading to a high water bill and the pending bill. Neighbours told the Police that Aftab used to regularly go and check the building's water tank," the sources said.

The police have also got the information that in the rent agreement which was made, Aftab had put Shraddha's name first and his own name at the last. "The flat owner knew that they are not a married couple. They were given the flat through a broker. Aftab used to deposit Rs 9,000 into the account of the owner between 8 and 10 of every month," the sources said.

The water bill is also likely to play an important role in the investigation. Today, if the court grants further custody to the police, they are likely to investigate this angle as well, according to the sources. Police investigation revealed that the couple had a fight on May 18 during which Aftab killed Shraddha.

Delhi Police sources said the May 18 quarrel was not the first time, Aftab and Shraddha were fighting for three years. "On May 18, there was a fight between the two regarding bringing household items from Mumbai. They used to fight over who would bear the household expenses and bring items. Aftab got very angry about this. The quarrel started around 8 pm on May 18 when Aftab strangled Shraddha to death. He kept her body in the room overnight and went to buy a knife and refrigerator the next day," sources told ANI.

Aftab was arrested on November 12 after Delhi police started probing into a missing complaint filed by Shraddha's father Vikas Walker. Aftab had attempted to dupe the police of Delhi and Mumbai in the initial days of the investigation.

Aftab had tried to hide the murder of Shraddha by removing any physical evidence, however, he had left the digital evidence that the police traced to reach the truth of the case. When Delhi Police initiated the investigation, Aftab had told the police that Shraddha had left the house on May 22 (Shraddha was killed on May 18), after a fight. He said that she had only carried her phone with herself and had left her belongings in his flat. He claimed that she was unreachable and he had not come in contact with her since then, according to the police sources.

However, the truth came to the fore when the police checked the phone call records of the couple and investigated their locations. The biggest breakthrough the police got was the bank statement of the couple's account which showed a transaction of Rs 54,000 from Shraddha's net banking account app to Aftab's account on May 26. The transaction exposed Aftab's lies in which he had earlier said that Shraddha was unreachable after May 22 and he did not come in contact with her, the sources said.

The location of the bank transfer that took place on May 26 also turned out to be the Mehrauli police station area. Besides this, on May 31 there was a chat with her friend from Shraddha's Instagram account. When the police found out the location of Shraddha's phone, it turned out to be in Delhi's Mehrauli police station area.

Aftab could not answer the police question that if Shraddha had carried her phone along with herself, why was its location being traced to his house? It was at this moment that Aftab revealed the truth. The Maharashtra Police sources said that when Shraddha's family could not contact her due to her phone being switched off, they filed the missing complaint at the Manikpur police station. Following the complaint, Aftab was summoned to the Manikpur police station for questioning.

Meanwhile, Shraddha's father on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for the accused while also suspecting 'love jihad' behind the incident. Speaking to ANI, Shraddha's father, Vikas Walker said, "I suspect love jihad. We demand that Aftab be sentenced to death. I have faith in the Delhi Police as the investigation is moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn't talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the first complaint in the case at Vasai (Mumbai)."

"I had spoken to Shraddha last in 2021. I would ask her to tell me more about her live-in partner. But she didn't say much. I did not know she had shifted to Delhi. Her friend told me she was in Delhi. I thought that she was in Bengaluru. Aftab had a lot of time to remove all the evidence," Shraddha's father said.