Swatantra Bhardwaj detained in UP hours after Delhi Police assures CJP of arrest

Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after Delhi Police assured protesters from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that he would be arrested within 72 hours in connection with an alleged assault on a student activist’s father, officials said.

Several police teams had been deployed to trace Bhardwaj after he allegedly fled from Naithla village on a Bullet motorcycle towards Khurja before a police team could reach the area to apprehend him, officials said.

Bhardwaj was wearing a helmet, apparently to conceal his identity, they said.

The police action came after a video clip of an interview in which Bhardwaj allegedly boasted about assaulting Sanjay Kumar, father of student activist Nishu Azad, during the July 20 protest in Delhi went viral.

Bhardwaj, who describes himself as a “kattar Hindu”, is accused of assaulting Kumar during the protest at Jantar Mantar. The allegations in the video could not be independently verified.

The CJP staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station in New Delhi on Friday, demanding action against Bhardwaj.

The protesters alleged that Kumar was assaulted during the July 20 demonstration and criticised the police for not taking immediate action against the accused.

Earlier on Friday, Delhi Police had assured the CJP delegation that Bhardwaj would be arrested within 72 hours.

Police teams subsequently tracked him to Bulandshahr, where he was detained, officials said.

Further details about the detention and the case are awaited.