On Shraddha Walkar's 2020 complaint against partner, Fadnavis orders probe

In her written complaint to the police, Shraddha Walkar had said her partner Aaftab Poonawala had beaten her and threatened to kill her

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that an investigation would be initiated into why cops took "no action" on a 2020 complaint filed by Shraddha Walkar, who was allegedly killed by her live-in partner in May this year. 
 

In her written complaint to the police, Walkar had said her partner Aaftab Poonawala had beaten her and threatened to kill her. 
 

Maharashtra Dy CM said, "I saw the letter (Shraddha's complaint to Police in 2020) and it has very serious allegations. We will have to investigate why was no action taken. I don't want to accuse anyone of anything but if action is not taken on such a letter, such incidents happen." 
 

Walkar, in her complaint filed at the Tulinj police station, told the police that "he tried to kill me" and threatened to "cut me up in pieces and throw me away."
 

"It will be investigated. Maybe she could have been saved had action been taken," Fadnavis said.=
 

The Maharashtra Police, however, said that they had started an investigation soon after Walkar's complaint, but the case was closed after 26 days as she withdrew her statement and said that her dispute with Poonawala was resolved.
 

A police officer at the Tulinj police station talking to The Indian Express admitted that they had not summoned Poonawala even once.
 

"We did not summon Aaftab. We were first waiting to record the detailed statement of the complainant. We would have called Aaftab for questioning after that," said Senior Police Inspector Rajendra Kamble, quoted in The Indian Express.
 

Kamble said that police visited Walkar's home twice after the complaint was lodged, the first time, it was locked, and the second time, she said she wanted to withdraw her complaint. 
 

Walkar, in her complaint letter two years back, had written, "Today, he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scares and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away. It's been 6 months he has been hitting me but I did not have the guts to go to the police because he threatened to kill me."
 

According to several media reports, Walkar was strangled to death by Poonawala, and her body was chopped into pieces. 
 

After his arrest, Poonawala confessed that he killed Walkar in their apartment in West Delhi's Chhatarpur and chopped her body into 35 pieces, said Delhi Police.
 

(With agency inputs)