Hindu influencer Bhardwaj arrested for assaulting activist’s father during CJP protest

Self-proclaimed Hindu influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj was arrested in connection with the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar and was sent to one-day police custody by a Delhi court on Saturday.

Bhardwaj was produced before additional sessions judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler at his residence around 2 pm, with his legal aid counsel appearing through video-conferencing, court sources said. He had initially been expected to appear physically before the Patiala House courts.

The arrest came a day after Delhi Police detained Bhardwaj in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Police subsequently added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR registered over the alleged assault.

The case took a further turn with Delhi Police registering a separate FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act following a complaint by the minor activist.

The teenager alleged that she faced online threats and harassment after publicly speaking about the alleged assault on her father. The FIR also invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal intimidation, stalking and insulting the modesty of a woman, besides relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station, demanding his arrest.

A Crime Branch team travelled to Bulandshahr to trace him, while police also conducted raids at the residences of some of his associates, officials said.

The police action followed widespread outrage over a video podcast in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the 23 June protest.

Bhardwaj has maintained that he acted in self-defence. Delhi Police had earlier described the injuries suffered by the man as “simple in nature”.

Meanwhile, Bhardwaj's supporters gathered outside the Parliament Street police station on Saturday, demanding withdrawal of the case and calling for a fair investigation.

Police tightened security around the station, deploying additional personnel and putting up barricades at the entrance. Security was also strengthened outside Patiala House Court following Bhardwaj’s production.

The CJP delegation, accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, met police officials on Friday and demanded stringent action against Bhardwaj, including the addition of attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation and SC/ST Act provisions.

In a separate development, Supreme Court lawyer Amita Sachdeva filed a complaint with Delhi Police against the student activist, alleging that she had posted objectionable content about Hindu deities on social media.

Sachdeva said she had previously given the activist an opportunity to remove the allegedly objectionable posts. Police said no FIR had been registered on that complaint as of Saturday.

With multiple complaints now surrounding the dispute, the case has emerged as a flashpoint involving allegations of assault, online harassment, caste-based offences and contentious social media activity.

With PTI inputs