New Delhi: A jawbone recovered by the police while probing the murder of Maharashtra girl Shraddha Walkar has been confirmed to be hers, sources have told ThePrint.
Some of the 13 bones retrieved from the Mehrauli jungle — including the pelvis — have matched with the 27-year-old’s father Vikas Walkar, the cops said on Thursday.
Shradhha’s live-in partner Aftaab Amin Poonawalla, 28, had allegedly scattered her body parts in several south Delhi areas following her murder in May.
The Central Forensic Science Laboratory, (CBI) and the Forensic Science Laboratory, FSL (Rohini) have submitted two reports — DNA and Aftaab’s polygraph — to the Delhi Police’s investigating team, sources said.
“The two reports corroborate the police’s investigation and Aftaab’s statements,” the source added.
These bones have emerged as the most important breakthrough in the sensational case wherein the 27-year-old was allegedly strangled to death and then chopped to pieces by boyfriend Aftaab.
The murder surfaced six months after the woman was killed. Aftaab is at present in judicial custody and had taken investigators to the very spots where he dumped her parts.
Delhi Special Commissioner of Police, Sagarpreet Hooda, told the media Thursday that the CFSL and FSL, Rohini reports had been helpful to the investigation.
However, the police still await Aftaab’s narco-analysis report from FSL, Rohini. Once that is in, all three reports will be sent to court, on the basis of which the probe team will apply for further police custody.
Shraddha’s mobile phone, which Aftaab allegedly got rid of weeks after the murder, is yet to be found. Police have also recovered some of Aftaab and Shraddha’s clothes which are being examined for more clues.
Additionally, several knives and mini saws have also been recovered but it is yet to be determined whether any of these were used to dismember her body.
The Delhi Police will now prepare a questionnaire to be sent to the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, AIIMS, where a postmortem of the DNA-matched bones will be conducted.
“We are preparing the questions to be sent to the medical board. Since it’s been months since they were disposed of, this will require high-level scientific and technical study. Experts are studying how to determine the cause of death. The chemical composition of the bones will be checked, reactions will be studied and if we are close, then the exact time of death can also be calculated along with the closest cause of death,” the source said.
Explaining how bones can be analysed to ascertain the cause of death, the source said, “For example, if someone was shot in the head, then even after months, the skull will have the bullet hole.”
Also read: Police recover pelvic bone in Shraddha Walkar case, can be crucial evidence to prove murder