Questions remain over the exact charges and additions to the FIR, while no detailed official statement from Delhi Police was immediately available. Bhardwaj disputes the viral account of the assault.
BY PC Bureau
Septembe 5, 2026: Delhi Police on Saturday sent “selft-styled goon” Swatantra Bhardwaj, to one-day police custody in connection with the alleged assault of Sanjay Kumar, father of minor activist Nishu Azad, during a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar.
Bhardwaj was arrested on Friday in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, by a Delhi Police Crime Branch team and brought to the national capital. He was produced before the court on Saturday, which granted police one day’s custody for questioning.
The Saturday hearing has drawn attention because of the unusual mode of production before the Judge at his resdeicne, the appearance of legal-aid counsel through video conferencing and the limited one-day police remand despite such chrages. The absence, so far, of a detailed public police account has also left questions about the precise nature of the allegations and the sections invoked against Bhardwaj.
The case relates to a confrontation during a CJP protest over alleged examination paper leaks. Police had earlier detained Bhardwaj and another accused, Suraj Kumar, at the spot and served them notices.
The case resurfaced after a podcast clip in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had struck Sanjay Kumar on the head with a steel kada and “cracked the skull”. He also spoke about stitches and suggested that political connections had helped him avoid jail.
Delhi Police have disputed the more serious version of the injury. They said Kumar’s medical examination at RML Hospital recorded a simple injury caused by a kada during a scuffle and rejected allegations of political interference.
Bhardwaj has denied the allegations surrounding the viral clip, calling it fake. He has also claimed that he acted in self-defence after being surrounded by 10–15 people and maintained that the injury was not serious.
The matter escalated on Friday when CJP co-convenors, supporters and politicians, including Lok Sabha MPs Chandra Shekhar and Rajesh Ranjan, protested outside Parliament Street police station demanding Bhardwaj’s arrest and stronger charges.
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Police subsequently added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the case. A separate FIR was also registered on Nishu Azad’s complaint over alleged online threats and harassment, invoking provisions of the POCSO Act and relevant BNS and Information Technology law provisions.
Hours after the protest, Crime Branch investigators traced Bhardwaj to Bulandshahr, where he was detained and subsequently arrested.
His lawyer, Umesh Sharma, said the arrest came suddenly and that the defence team was completing the necessary legal formalities. He said the family and people associated with Bhardwaj’s earlier High Court petition were in contact with the lawyers.
A courtroom hearing?
Too mainstream.
For Swatantra Bhardwaj, the hearing reportedly came home, with a special VC arrangement at his residence.
And we’re still supposed to believe this is equal treatment under the law pic.twitter.com/0GY5RLh3G0
— Nurmagumedov (@x_Aliwayzz01) September 5, 2026
Police custody will allow investigators to question Bhardwaj about the Jantar Mantar confrontation, his statements in the podcast, his movements after the incident and the allegations contained in the subsequent FIRs.
The case now involves competing claims over the severity of the injury, the circumstances of the assault and whether stronger provisions should have been invoked earlier. Police maintain that the original medical examination showed a simple injury and deny any political shielding, while the complainant’s side has pressed for stronger action.
