The controversy over the assault against CJP protestors at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar took another dramatic turn on Friday after self-styled Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, accused of assaulting the father of one of the protestors, reportedly fled from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, hours after the Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against him. 

Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, the father of protestor identified as Nishu Azad, during the outfit’s agitation against exam irregularities at Jantar Mantar. 

The development emerges amid growing pressure on the Delhi Police to nab Bhardwaj, almost a day after one of his videos went viral, in which he is heard claiming that he had cracked Kuamr’s ‘skull’ and asserting that he was not jailed after the alleged assault. 

He added by claiming that a phone call from Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra helped him evade police action. However, after the video kicked up a row, Bhardwaj said the viral video was edited and that his remarks were sarcastic. 

Cops assure CJP of arresting Bhardwaj

As per a report by news agency PTI, Bhardwaj managed to flee from Bulandshahr hours after the Delhi Police assured the CJP that it would arrest him. 

Police teams reached the area to apprehend him, but he had already gone on the lam from Naithla village on a Bullet bike, heading towards Khurja. He also wore a helmet to conceal his identity, the report claimed. 

Cops have been deployed in plain clothes to trace and apprehend him. During the search operation, police also questioned local journalists to gather insights regarding his whereabouts. 

Delhi Police team reaches Bulandshahr

A team from the Delhi Police reached Bulandshahr on Friday to arrest Bhardwaj, amid mounting pressure from the CJP for action against the latter. The police action followed recurring demands from CJP leaders, who had warned that they would return to the streets if Bhardwaj was not arrested. 

Delhi Police assured the CJP that Bhardwaj would fall into police dragnet within 72 hours. 

CJP founder steps up verbal attack on police

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke intensified his criticism of the Delhi Police over the alleged delay in arresting Bhardwaj. He wrote in an ‘X’ post, “DCP Sachin Sharma must explain why that Sanghi goon is still not behind bars. Is it because Sachin Sharma himself is a hardcore Sanghi? As I’ve been told by people from within his own department.”