Influencer and activist Swatantra Bhardwaj, accused in a case related to the alleged assault on student-activist Nishu Azad's father during Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar in July, has been sent to one day of judicial custody. He was produced before a court through video conferencing on Sunday after his police remand ended. Bhardwaj was arrested by Delhi Police on Saturday in connection with the Jantar Mantar assault case and was remanded to one-day police custody. The arrest came after mounting pressure from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), its supporters, and opposition leaders, who had been demanding his arrest and stronger legal action in the case. After he was sent to judicial custody, Bharadwaj's counsel, Umesh Sharma, told IANS, "The police are acting completely outside standard legal procedures. The established law requires that whenever someone is arrested, they must be produced before the jurisdictional area magistrate within 24 hours. Yesterday, we waited outside the courtroom of the jurisdictional magistrate. Upon discovering that the presiding judge was on leave, we approached the designated link magistrate. However, the police circumvented this by producing him via video conferencing before an entirely different designated SC/ST court and secured a one-day police remand." Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, the father of student activist Nishu Azad, during a CJP protest at Jantar Mantar. The controversy intensified after a clip from a podcast interview went viral, in which Bhardwaj claimed he had “cracked the skull” of Nishu’s father and spoke about the alleged assault in graphic terms. The developments triggered a political and legal escalation, with CJP representatives, supporters and political leaders gathering at Parliament Street Police Station on Friday to demand action against Bhardwaj. The police have also added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to criminal intimidation with threat of death, to the existing FIR. A separate POCSO case has also been registered following allegations concerning threats and harassment targeting Nishu Azad, who is a minor. Ananya is a journalist with a strong grounding in breaking news and a deep-rooted passion for geopolitics. She has 6 years of experience in TV and Dig... View More