A van carrying Aftab Poonawala, the accused in the murder of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar was attacked on Monday by a few sword wielding individuals outside the Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi's Rohini area. While the policemen accompanying Aftab were able to detain two of the attackers, a report by The Indian Express found that the attackers engaged in planning attacks on Aftab many times since the case came to light, to seek "revenge" for Walkar's killing.
Two attackers, identified as Kuldeep Thakur and Nigam Gurjar, claimed to be part of a right-wing group Hindu Sena. They are both residents of Gurgaon and had reached FSL in Rohini to attack Aftab with other associates when they heard Aftab was to be taken to the laboratory for a polygraph test.
Thakur, hailing from Haryana's Bhiwani district, is the state president of the organisation and has been a part of the group for a few years now. "He has been working for the Hindu cause and would often put up banners. I was not aware that people from the Hindu Sena from Gurgaon had gone to attack the accused. They had been discussing recently beating him… baat toh karte hi the ki peetenge (they used to say they will beat him up)… but he was in police custody, " Surjit Yadav, national vice-president of the Hindu Sena told IE.
A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded the two accused to 14 days of judicial custody. Yadav also told the newspaper that eight to ten people had left for Rohini from Gurgaon on Monday.
Thakur had reportedly told the media before the attack, "Aftab killed someone’s daughter and he cut her into 35 pieces. I am a father of two girls. Jab hmari behn beti surakshit nahi toh kya karein… hum maarenge inko.” (When our sisters and daughters are not safe, what will we do? We will kill them).
Vishnu Gupta, the national president of Hindu Sena had told The Print earlier that they were trying to confirm whether the attackers were indeed from their group but later asserted that the group will seek bail for their members. "Aftab killed a Hindu girl. The workers were angry and they took a step they should not have. Through this, a message has been sent. Kanoon toh saza dega hi, par samaj bi chhodega nahi, (The law will punish him, society won't leave him alone either)," the report quoted him as saying.
The attack on Monday took place at around 6:45 pm. In videos doing the rounds on social media, a car is seen stopping the police van after overtaking it. A few people came out of the car and started attacking the van carrying Poonawala.
The van was driven out of the spot while two attackers were detained, the police said. In the video, a cop could be seen pulling out his service revolver to disperse the attackers carrying swords.