Lawyers protest, shout slogans against Mehrauli murder accused Aftab

New Delhi: A section of lawyers on Thursday evening at a court premises here shouting slogans against Aaftab Amin Poonawala, accused in the Mehrauli killing case.

Around 100 advocates, practising at Saket district courts here, assembled around 3 pm when they came to know that the accused will be produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla.

They shouted slogans demanding award of death penalty for Poonawala, who is under police custody.

One of the protesting lawyers, Surendra Kumar, said the protest was organised against the heinous crime of the accused.

"We demand fair investigation in the matter. It should be decided expeditiously in a fast track court," he said.

Earlier during the day, the metropolitan magistrate permitted Delhi Police to produce the accused before him through video conferencing.

Twenty-eight-year-old Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days past midnight.

Police said the couple used to have frequent arguments over financial issues and it is suspected that there was also a fight between them that resulted in Poonawala killing 27-year-old Walkar on the evening of May 18.