A Delhi court on Sunday sent right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to judicial custody (JC) for a day in the case related to alleged assault on the father of a Dalit student-activist during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar in July.

Duty Magistrate Anjali Singh of the Patiala House Court passed the order.

 According to a lawyer involved in the case, Bhardwaj was produced at the judge's residence through virtual conference (VC).

Police asked him to be sent to JC for 14 days. However, since he was produced before the Duty Magistrate, Bhardwaj was sent to JC for a day. The request for additional custody will be decided by the concerned court on Monday.

Bhardwaj was arrested from Uttar Pradesh yesterday. He has been booked for offence of assault and provisions under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act [SC/ST Act] and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).

Bhardwaj was initially booked only for the offences under Sections 115(2) (causing simple hurt) and 126(2) (wrongful restraint) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

He later took to social media and claimed that had cracked the skull of the girl's father and was detained by the police only for a few hours. He also claimed proximity to NDA leaders Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan.

Paswan denied the same and also lodged a separate complaint against Bhardwaj for misusing his name.

Meanwhile, after Cockroach Janta Party leaders along with the girl and her father protested at the Parliament Street police station, more serious charges were added.