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New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday, September 7, remanded self-styled Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to 14 days of judicial custody for the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar, among other charges.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, September 4, hours after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.

The action follows outrage over an interview in which Bhardwaj claimed he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the June 23 protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.

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A day after his detention on September 5, Bhardwaj was produced at the residence of Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler, who allowed the Delhi Police’s plea seeking one-day custodial interrogation of the accused.

On Sunday, Bhardwaj was sent to one-day judicial custody.

Additional Sessions Judge Laler has now extended Bhardwaj’s judicial custody till September 21.

What sparked the row

A video of Bhardwaj sparked a row in which he is purportedly claiming to have “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father.

“I cracked the skull… Do you know which Section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches,” Bhardwaj had said in the interview.

Provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation have been added to the FIR against Bhardwaj over the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, the father of a teenage student activist, during the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar in June.

The Delhi Police had earlier said Sanjay Kumar’s injuries were “simple” in nature and were caused by a steel bracelet. Bhardwaj later claimed in a podcast that he had acted in self-defence.

Fresh FIR under POCSO Act

On Friday, in a separate development, police had registered a fresh FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on a complaint by the minor activist, alleging online threats and harassment.

The police also reportedly invoked BNS Sections 351(3) (aggravated criminal intimidation), 78 (stalking) and 79 (insulting the modesty of a woman), besides Section 67 (publishing obscene material using a digital device) of the Information Technology Act.

The student 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 came after CJP representatives, accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, met police officials at the Parliament Street police station and sought action against Bhardwaj.

The delegation had also demanded the addition of attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation and SC/ST Act provisions to the case and a separate FIR over alleged rape threats and online abuse targeting the minor activist.