Shraddha murder: What Hindu Sena chief said after Aaftab van attack

Poonawala - who is in the extended custody of Delhi Police as they unravel the details of this horrific crime - was returning from undergoing a polygraph test when the van he was in was attacked.

The actions of the sword-wielding men who attacked Shraddha Walkar murder-accused Aaftab Poonawala while he was in a Delhi Police van late Monday night are 'not of the Hindu Sena', the group's chief, Vishnu Gupta, said, even as he admitted they might be members.

The clarification came soon after disturbing visuals shared by news agency ANI of two men - one with a saffron headband - brandishing swords and forcing the van to stop. (ANI)

Gupta said he heard of the attack 'through police and media reports' and stressed, "They could be members of our group but what they did was their own/personal step and not of the Hindu Sena." The clarification came soon after disturbing visuals shared by news agency ANI of two men - one with a saffron headband - brandishing swords and forcing the van to stop.

Aaftab Poonawala, 28, is accused of murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, 26, chopping her body into 35 pieces and then dumping those in forested areas across south Delhi's Mehrauli and Chhatarpur areas, as well as in neighbouring Gurgaon.

There were at least five police personnel guarding Poonawala at the time; one of them was seen in the video bravely confronting the attackers with a pistol in his hand.

The two men who were seen attacking the van have been detained, ANI reported.

The attack also comes hours after police said they believed they have found some of the weapons allegedly used by Poonawala to commit this gruesome crime. Police also recovered a ring - that belonged to Walkar - and was 'gifted' by Poonawala to a woman he met after he killed his former girlfriend and while her cut-up body was stored in a fridge at their home.