Delhi court gives permission for narco analysis of Mehrauli murder accused
New Delhi (PTI): A court here on Tuesday allowed Delhi Police to conduct a narco test on Aaftab Amin Poonawala, Poonawala's counsel said.
Abinash Kumar, Poonawala's counsel, said that the police had filed an application for taking Poonawala to Forensic Science Lab, Rohini, on December 1 and December 5, which was allowed by the court.
Police had earlier said that the narco analysis would be conducted at Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini by a team of experts from the FSL.
On Monday, Poonawala had come under an attack by some weapon-wielding men at the FSL when he was in a police van.
A video of the attack that surfaced on social media showed a policeman whipping out his pistol to warn the attackers to back off.
Since the incident, security outside the FSL, where a series of sessions of polygraph test on Poonawala has taken place, has been beefed up.
Narco analysis, also known as truth serum, involves intravenous administration of a drug (such as sodium pentothal, scopolamine, and sodium amytal) that causes the person undergoing it to enter into various stages of anaesthesia.
In the hypnotic stage, the person becomes less inhibited and is more likely to divulge information, which would usually not be revealed in the conscious state.
The investigating agencies use this test after the other evidence do not provide a clear picture of the case.
The Delhi Police had earlier said it was seeking permission for Poonawala's narco analysis as his responses during interrogation were "deceptive" in nature.
The Supreme Court has ruled that narco analysis, brain mapping, and polygraph tests cannot be conducted on any person without his or her consent.
Also, statements made during this test are not admissible as primary evidence in the court, except under certain circumstances where the bench thinks that the facts and nature of the case permit it.
Poonawala, 28, is accused of strangling his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, and sawing her body into 35 pieces.
He allegedly kept her body parts in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his house in South Delhi's Mehrauli, before dumping them across the city over several days in the dark of night.
He was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days on November 17.
On November 22, he was sent to police custody for four days. The court on November 26, sent him to judicial custody for 13 days.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
