Jantar Mantar assault case: Swatantra Bhardwaj sent to judicial custody till Sept 21

A Delhi court has extended Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj's judicial custody till September 21 in an alleged Jantar Mantar assault case. Police have added SC/ST Act and criminal intimidation charges, while a separate POCSO FIR was registered over alleged online threats and harassment targeting the minor student activist.A Delhi court on Monday sent Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to 14-day judicial custody in a case linked to the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar. The court has extended his judicial custody till September 21.The action came after 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 avoided arrest because of his political connections. He was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after the Cockroach Janta Party staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest.A day after his detention, Bhardwaj was produced on Saturday at the residence of Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler, who allowed Delhi Police's plea for one day of custodial interrogation. On Sunday, Bhardwaj was sent to one-day judicial custody. The judge has now extended that custody till September 21.A video of Bhardwaj had triggered a row, in which he is purportedly heard saying he had "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. Delhi Police have added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj over the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, the father of the teenage student activist, during the CJP-led protest in June. Police had earlier said Kumar's injuries were "simple" in nature and were caused by a steel bracelet. Bhardwaj later said in a podcast that he had acted in self-defence.In a separate development on Friday, police registered a fresh FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on a complaint by the minor activist, who alleged online threats and harassment. Police also reportedly invoked BNS Sections 351(3), 78 and 79, along with Section 67 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 followed a meeting between CJP representatives, accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, and police officials at the Parliament Street police station. The delegation sought action against Bhardwaj and demanded the addition of attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation and SC/ST Act provisions to the case, along with a separate FIR over the alleged rape threats and online abuse targeting the minor activist.In sum, the case now includes Bhardwaj's judicial custody till September 21, added charges in the assault case, and a separate POCSO FIR over the online threats and harassment alleged by the minor activist.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 7, 2026 16:17 IST