The Delhi Police on Monday said they have arrested a man for the murder of his girlfriend, chopping her body into pieces and disposing of them across the capital over several days since May this year. According to the police, the crime was committed in May this year but only came to light in November. 

According to details shared by the police with the media, the accused has been identified as Aftab Poonawaala. He was arrested after the family of the deceased woman lodged a case against him. The deceased, a resident of Mumbai, was employed at a call centre in Delhi. 

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The family of the deceased had filed a missing complaint in Mumbai after she stopped responding to their calls in May. According to the police, the victim’s body is yet to be recovered.

“Poonawaala told us that they often got into heated arguments because the woman wanted to marry him. In May, they again fought over the relationship and Poonawaala strangled her to death in the heat of the moment,” a police officer was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. The officer added that the accused, who works at a private firm in Gurgaon, killed the woman after the two got into a fight.

The police said that Poonawaala stored the body at their house in South Delhi’s Mehrauli for days and allegedly chopped it in parts and dumped them at different places over the next few weeks.

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The accused and the deceased had relocated to Delhi earlier this year after the woman’s parents refused to accept their relationship. The family arrived in Delhi this month and found no trace of her at her rented Mehrauli residence. A kidnapping case was registered by the Delhi Police after the facts pertaining to the case were communicated to them by the Mumbai Police. The accused was subsequently arrested.

“We have arrested Poonawaala and recovered evidence from his possession in connection with the murder. He has confessed to the crime and revealed how he killed the woman and chopped her body. We are questioning him and also trying to recover the body of the woman,” the officer quoted by IE said.