Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after Delhi Police assured Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protesters that he would be arrested within 72 hours. Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, the father of student protestor Nishu Azad, during a CJP protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 20.
The development came after CJP supporters staged a protest outside Parliament Street Police Station, demanding Bhardwaj’s arrest. CJP spokesperson Saurav Das and co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka were among those who marched from Patel Chowk to the police station.
According to reports, multiple teams had been deployed to trace Bhardwaj. He allegedly left Naithla village on a Bullet motorcycle and headed towards Khurja before being detained in Bulandshahr. Officials said he was wearing a helmet, apparently to conceal his identity.
The case gained attention after Swatantra Bhardwaj appeared to boast about the alleged assault in a podcast. He claimed to have “cracked the skull” of Sanjay Kumar and said the victim required 60 stitches. He also claimed that a case under Section 307 of the IPC, relating to attempted murder, should have been registered against him.
Following the backlash, Bhardwaj changed his account and described the incident as self-defence. “What people are calling an attack was an act of self-defence,” he said.
Swatantra Bhardwaj had also claimed that he had political backing, naming leaders including Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, the CJP has been demanding that the charges in the FIR be strengthened, arguing that the alleged assault amounted to an attempt to murder. Addressing reporters outside Parliament Street Police Station, Saurav Das said the incident occurred during what he described as a peaceful protest. “There is a minor who has been associated with our protest right from Day One. Her father, Sanjay Ji, also comes with her. When we were holding a peaceful sit-in protest, some members of a criminal gang entered our protest and resorted to violence.”
Das said the organisation continued to pressure police after the FIR was registered, seeking stronger charges. “We continued putting pressure on the police, saying that this was an attempt to murder and that the relevant section should be added. We also demanded that the SC/ST Act be invoked because they belong to a Dalit family.”
The FIR had initially been registered with what CJP described as minor sections. After negotiations with police on Friday, relevant provisions under the SC/ST Act were added to the case, according to the organisation.
