The New Indian Express ·
Politics
Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj gets one-day police custody over alleged assault
Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj was on Saturday remanded to one day in police custody by a Delhi court in connection with an alleged assault on the father of a minor activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar in July, reported news agency PTI.
According to court sources cited by PTI, Bhardwaj was produced at the residence of Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler at around 2 pm.
His legal aid counsel appeared before the judge through video-conferencing.
Bhardwaj was originally expected to be produced physically in the Patiala House courts.
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.
According to the report, Delhi Police has added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj. A separate case has also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against him.
The action came after an interview, which went viral, in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had "cracked the skull" of the activist's father during the July 20 protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.
"I cracked the skull... Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches," Bhardwaj said in the interview.
The Delhi Police had earlier said the man's injuries were "simple" in nature and were caused by a steel bracelet. Bhardwaj later claimed that he had acted in self-defence.
In a separate development on Friday, police registered a fresh FIR under the POCSO Act based on the minor activist's complaint alleging online threats and harassment.
Police also reportedly invoked Sections 351(3), 78 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
The minor had earlier alleged that she received rape threats, verbal abuse and morphed images after speaking out against the alleged assault on her father and filing a police complaint.
The developments followed a meeting between CJP representatives and police officials at the Parliament Street police station. The delegation was accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad.
The delegation sought the addition of attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation and SC/ST Act provisions to the assault case and demanded a separate FIR over the alleged rape threats and online abuse targeting the minor activist.
(With inputs from PTI)
