Right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, the man accused of assaulting the father of a student-activist during the Cockroach Janta Party's July protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, was detained in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, the Delhi Police said. The police also added the stringent SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to the FIR as the victim is a Dalit from Scheduled Caste (SC); plus the POCSO Act over sexual assault threats to the girl, whose identity needs to be withheld as per the law.

The FIR earlier had sections relating to assault, while demands have been made for attempt-to-murder sections too, on which police are likely to take medical advice about the nature of injuries. 

The action against Bhardwaj came soon after CJP co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, scores of supporters, MP Chandrashekhar Azad of the Azad Samaj Party, and Pappu Yadav, an independent MP aligned with the Congress, reached the Parliament Street police station along with the girl and her father, and sought action against Bhardwaj.  

Youth Congress activists were there, too, as the issue gained further traction after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi posted in support of the girl on X, alleging that she and her family were attacked also because of their caste identity as Dalits.

Bhardwaj's Viral Claims: "Cracked His Skull"

The case blew up after a video clip of an interview went viral in which Bhardwaj, a self-described "kattar (hardline) Hindu", claimed to have "cracked the skull" of girl's father during the protest. He bragged about escaping jail despite the seriousness of the offence.

"Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches. The man was being taken away in an ambulance in a serious condition. His daughter was standing outside the police station and saying that she would die by suicide if her father didn't get justice. But I was not even jailed. The world should know this. I was out and about through the night," Bhardwaj is heard saying in the video clip from a podcast, claiming he has direct patronage of BJP leader Kapil Mishra and Union Minister Chirag Paswan of BJP ally LJP. Paswan has since filed a police complaint against him for misusing his name. 

The CJP, which had organised the protest where the attack took place, alleged that police failed to take adequate action against him.

The controversy intensified on Thursday after police said 38-year-old Kumar had only suffered a head injury in a scuffle and rejected claims that his skull had been fractured.

Rahul Gandhi posted on X later in the night and told the girl "not to panic".

"I'm with you. It's clear that you're being targeted because you raise your voice for the rights of your community and students," he said in a message to her.

He attacked the Home Minister, from whom he has been seeking accountability over the police action at the July 20 CJP march too. "Amit Shah's Delhi Police, on the one hand, commits inhuman brutality against students. On the other hand, the criminal who smashed the head of a Dalit girl's father is roaming freely in the open," he wrote. He tagged PM Narendra Modi and Shah and alleged that Swatantra Bhardwaj has their "protection".

"Your fight is not yours alone. We won't stop until justice is served," he wrote.

The girl also alleged that she faced verbal abuse and rape threats after complaining about the assault on her father and filing an FIR. “I was ashamed of even stepping out. For a few weeks I could not go to school. I feel everyone is judging me. I hope police will take action,” she said.