This comes after the police had assured the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that Bhardwaj would be arrested within 72 hours over claims he 'cracked the skull' of the father of student protester Nishu Azad.

This comes after the police had assured the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that Bhardwaj would be arrested within 72 hours over claims he 'cracked the skull' of the father of student protester Nishu Azad.

This comes after the police had assured the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that Bhardwaj would be arrested within 72 hours over claims he 'cracked the skull' of the father of student protester Nishu Azad.

The Delhi Police on Friday detained Swatantra Bhardwaj, the self-styled Hindutva influencer who allegedly assaulted the father of student activist Nishu Azad.

This comes after the police had assured the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that Bhardwaj would be arrested within 72 hours.

However, he later claimed that he had not attacked Sanjay, but had defended himself from a mob attack.

"I was gheroed by 10-15 people. When I acted in self-defence, he was hit on the head. As per his medical report from Delhi Police, he did not suffer major injuries. I am cooperating with the ongoing investigation. The podcast clip that is being shared on social media by Rahul Gandhi and others is fake," he told ANI.

Still, Bhardwaj had earlier tried to give the Bulandshahr police the slip when they tried to arrest him just hours after the 72-hour-arrest promise made to the CJP.

A PTI report noted that he had left the Naithla village on a Royal Enfield motorcycle towards Khurja, and had been wearing a helmet to conceal his identity. This sparked major search efforts by the police in plain clothes, at which time local journalists were also questioned for clues.

The issue revolves around a viral video of an interview, in which he is heard boasting about "cracking the skull" of Sanjay Kumar, the father of student activist, Nishu Azad, during the pressure group's July 20 Parliament march protest in Delhi.

This led to the CJP staging a protest outside the Parliament Street Police Station in the national capital on Friday to demand action against him.

The report added, citing party representatives, that Bhardwaj would be booked under charges of attempted murder and criminal intimidation, as well as under the SC/ST Act while a separate FIR would be registered over online abuse and objectionable images targeting the assault victim's daughter.

"After the addition of the SC/ST Act, the victim will undergo another medical examination. Further investigation will be conducted to determine whether a charge under the attempt-to-murder section is required," a police source said about the influencer, who had also described himself as a "kattar Hindu (hardline Hindu)".

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