Bulandshahr : Swatantra Bhardwaj, a social media “influencer” who was accused of allegedly assaulting the father of 14-year-old student activist during the CJP’s July protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, has been “apprehended and detained” in UP’s Bulandshahr on Friday, sources told TOI. Notably, both Delhi Police and their UP counterparts were yet to make any official statement on the case, till the time of filing this report, making the entire operation extremely secretive.
The reported action against Bhardwaj came after CJP co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka along with supporters and some politicians reached Parliament Street police station in Delhi, demanding police and legal intervention.
In a late development, an FIR has been registered against Bhardwaj under relevant BNS sections of ‘ attempt to murder ’ along with Pocso Act and SC/ST Act , sources said.
“Do you know which section this crime attracts? section 307. He needed 60 stitches…,” he had purportedly said. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Meerut | Silver Rate in Meerut | Bank Holidays in Meerut | Public Holidays in Meerut | Meerut AQI | Weather in Meerut | Petrol Price in Meerut | Diesel Price in Meerut | CNG Price in Meerut | LPG Price in Meerut Stay updated with the latest Meerut news.
Bhardwaj had reached the UP district early Friday “in an apparent attempt to evade police” and took shelter at the house of a local family in Naithla village, according to local residents in Bulandshahr TOI spoke with. Bhardwaj spoke with a few media persons while in the district and once again bragged about the “assault” during the CJP stir. Bhardwaj is said to have arrived at the house of one Harishankar Sharma, a Naithla resident who drives a cab in Delhi-NCR. Sharma said he met Bhardwaj from an earlier travel. “Bhardwaj called me and said he wanted to come to my house to meet me. But when media persons started arriving at my village, I sensed something was wrong,” Sharma said. Sharma added that Bhardwaj later asked if he could borrow a motorcycle in the house, saying he would return “within five minutes”. Sharma later told ANI: “He was with me until 2pm. They just came and said, ‘We’re from the crime branch; Swatantra, come with us,’ and took him along… Sikandrabad circle officer (CO) Deepak Kumar said the local police came to know about Bhardwaj’s presence via WhatsApp media groups. “We immediately sent a local police team to the area, but by the time the team reached, he had left that place,” the CO said, adding that Delhi Police officers did not record their arrival at the local police station. The Delhi Police had assured that Bhardwaj “will be arrested within 72 hours”, according to CJP representatives on Friday. Bhardwaj, a self-described “hardline Hindu”, had earlier publicly said he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the protest, and bragged about escaping from jail. Originally hailing from Bihar, Bhardwaj, in his early 20s, currently stays in Delhi, where he is pursuing his studies and “preparing for govt services”, according to information available on his social media profiles. Bhardwaj describes himself as a “Sanatani Yoddha” and has built a sizeable following on social media, where he has posted several provocative videos and hate content. I hope police will take action,” she had said.
He arrived early in the morning along with another man. Initially, I did not suspect anything. “Then I came to know that Delhi Police had detained him. It was only after that I learnt that he was wanted in a criminal case in the national capital. I still do not know much about the case,” Sharma added. The crime branch came from Delhi and took him away. The developments sparked a flurry of activities in the village, with locals saying that around five to six private cars had been moving around the area and their occupants were making inquiries about Bhardwaj. Shamshuddin Saifi, another local resident, claimed, “Some villagers became suspicious after spotting a car with three men in plain clothes. When we questioned the occupants, they admitted that they were from the police… Later, we heard that Bhardwaj, who was riding a black motorcycle, had been picked up from Dhameda Nara village in Bulandshahr. We don’t know where he was taken though. His online presence indicates that he completed his schooling in Patna before moving to Delhi. Meanwhile, the student activist alleged that she faced verbal abuse and rape threats after complaining about the assault on her father and filing an FIR. “It was hard to even step out. For a few weeks I could not go to school. I felt everyone was judging me. Download the TOI App.