NEW DELHI: Self-styled “Hindu influencer” Swatantra Bhardwaj was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar, besides other charges, Delhi Police said.
Bhardwaj was produced before a Delhi court, which remanded him to one-day police custody. He appeared before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler at the judge’s residence around 2 pm, while his legal aid counsel joined the proceedings through video-conferencing, court sources said.
He was initially scheduled to be produced before the Patiala House courts.
The arrest came a day after police detained Bhardwaj in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. The agency subsequently added provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR registered in connection with the alleged assault.
Police have also registered a separate FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act following a complaint by the minor activist. She alleged that she faced online threats and harassment after publicly speaking about the alleged assault on her father.
The POCSO case also includes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to criminal intimidation, stalking and acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman, along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, shortly after members of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) held a protest outside the Parliament Street police station seeking his arrest. A Delhi Police Crime Branch team had travelled to Bulandshahr to locate him, while searches were also conducted at the homes of some of his associates, officials said.
The police action followed controversy over a video podcast in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the June 23 protest. He had maintained that he acted in self-defence. Police had earlier described the injuries suffered by the man as “simple in nature”.
Meanwhile, a group of Bhardwaj’s supporters gathered outside the Parliament Street police station on Saturday, demanding withdrawal of the case and seeking what they described as a fair investigation.
Police stepped up security around the station, deploying additional personnel and installing barricades near the entrance. Security was also strengthened outside Patiala House Court during and after Bhardwaj’s production, officials said.
On Friday, a CJP delegation accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad met police officials and sought stringent action against Bhardwaj. The delegation demanded the inclusion of charges related to attempt to murder, criminal intimidation and provisions of the SC/ST Act.
In a separate development, Supreme Court advocate Amita Sachdeva filed a complaint with Delhi Police against the student activist, accusing her of making allegedly objectionable social media posts about Hindu deities.
Sachdeva said she had previously asked the activist to remove the posts. No FIR has been registered on the complaint so far, a senior police officer said.