Swatantra Bharadwaj allegedly fled Bulandshahr before Delhi Police could arrest him.
Police deployed multiple teams to trace the Jantar Mantar assault accused.
CJP protesters demanded his arrest, alleging delays and inadequate police action.
Hours after Delhi Police assured CJP to arrest the social media influencer Swatantra Bharadwaj for allegedly assaulting the father of a student protester at Jantar Mantar, the accused have reportedly managed to flee from Bulandshahr shortly before the police team arrived.
According to PTI, Bharadwaj left Naithla village on a Bullet motorcycle and headed towards Khurja. He was reportedly wearing a helmet to conceal his identity.
Several police teams, including personnel in plain clothes, were deployed to trace him. Officers also questioned local journalists during the search, the report said.
The case concerns an alleged assault on Nishu’s father, Sanjay Kumar, during a CJP protest at Jantar Mantar. Kumar’s identity was also recorded by Delhi Police in its public account of the incident.
Fresh outrage erupted after a video clip from Bharadwaj’s interview went viral. In the clip, he purportedly claimed to have “cracked the skull” of Kumar and referred to his alleged political connections.
CJP Protesters Demand Arrest
CJP supporters subsequently gathered outside Parliament Street police station and raised slogans demanding justice for Nishu and action against Bharadwaj.
Nishu said the police had given the delegation a timeframe for making the arrest.
“Police said they will arrest Swatantra in 72 hours. We believe they will take action and not keep delaying it as they were doing,” she told reporters.
She also alleged that she had faced verbal abuse and rape threats following the incident and had filed 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.
Kumar said the family had submitted two complaints and was seeking the inclusion of attempted murder charges and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das and party member Ashutosh Ranka accused the police of failing to take adequate action despite Bharadwaj’s purported remarks in the viral interview.
“The criminal is openly admitting to the crime. We will demand that police register a murder case,” Ranka said.
Das questioned why those accused in the case were allegedly allowed to move freely and said the organisation would continue pressing for action.
Bharadwaj Claims Self-Defence
Bharadwaj has denied deliberately assaulting Kumar and maintained that he acted to protect himself after being surrounded by a group.
“What people are calling an attack was an act of self-defence. If I had not acted in self-defence, I could have been lynched by the mob or killed,” he said.
He claimed that between 10 and 15 people had surrounded him during the confrontation. Bharadwaj also dismissed the viral podcast clip as fake and said his comments about having political connections were sarcastic.
Delhi Police, meanwhile, said 38-year-old Kumar had suffered injuries classified as “simple in nature” during a scuffle. It rejected the claim that his skull had been fractured, stating that the injury was caused by a kada and not a weapon.
Police earlier said a case had been registered at Parliament Street police station and that Bharadwaj and another accused had been served notices and questioned. The force said a chargesheet would be filed before the competent court.
Chandrashekhar Azad Questions Police Action
Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) MP Chandrashekhar Azad also joined the demonstration and accused the police of failing to act despite Bharadwaj’s public appearances and purported statements.
“We have all seen how the accused has publicly appeared on television channels and admitted to the allegations against him. He has said that they wanted to kill the victim, that they attacked her and that she suffered injuries. Yet, the police did not arrest them,” Azad said.
“They were simply served notices and allowed to leave. The accused is intimidating the victim. He is putting up status updates, threatening to disturb the peace of the country and targeting Muslims. He is doing everything that could harm the country’s communal harmony and unity,” he added.
Police teams are continuing efforts to locate Bharadwaj after he allegedly left Bulandshahr before they could apprehend him.
