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New Delhi: Self-proclaimed Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj was arrested in connection with the alleged assault on the father of Nishu Azad, a Dalit student activist, during a protest at Jantar Mantar, among other charges, on Saturday, September 5, police said.

He was sent to one-day police custody by a Delhi court. Bhardwaj was produced before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler at his residence around 2 pm, while his legal aid counsel appeared through video-conferencing, court sources said.

He was originally expected to be produced physically before the Patiala House courts.

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

A fresh FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has also been registered on a complaint by the minor activist, who alleged that she was subjected to online threats and harassment after speaking out against the alleged assault on Nishu’s father.

The POCSO FIR also invokes sections 351(3) (Criminal intimidation), 78 (Stalking) and 79 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the BNS and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest. A Crime Branch team had gone to Bulandshahr to trace him, while raids were also conducted at the residences of some of his associates, officials said.

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

He had claimed in the podcast that he acted in self-defence. Delhi Police had earlier said the man’s injuries were “simple in nature.”

The CJP delegation, accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, had met police officials on September 4 and demanded action against Bhardwaj, including the addition of attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation and SC/ST Act provisions.

Bharadwaj supporters file complaint against Nishu Azad

Several supporters of Bhardwaj gathered outside the Parliament Street police station on Saturday, demanding that the case against him be withdrawn and calling for a fair investigation.

Security was tightened outside the police station as the supporters gathered, with additional personnel deployed and barricades put up at the entrance. Security arrangements were also strengthened outside Patiala House Court following Bhardwaj’s production, officials said.

Lawyers Amita Sachdeva and Anurag Gupta have lodged a complaint against Nishu Azad, who, without taking names, alleged that Hindu gods and goddesses were mocked and abused.

“Police have assured that they would register the complaint and initiate action. If they fail, we will take the matter to the District Collector, and if the officer doesn’t act either, we will approach the Supreme Court directly,” Gupta said.

No FIR has been registered in the matter yet, a senior police officer said.