HT Evening Brief, Sept. 6: ‘Influencer’ Swatantra Bhardwaj sent to jail; ‘Hanuman Ansh’ crosses ₹100 crore at box office

A Delhi court sent right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to one-day judicial custody in connection with an assault case registered under the SC/ST Act. The case concerns allegations that he severely injured a 38-year-old man during a Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar in June.

Elsewhere in Delhi, one person died after a multi-storey boys’ paying guest hostel collapsed in Satya Niketan on Sunday afternoon. Several people were feared trapped under the rubble. Teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, the municipal corporation, CATS and Civil Defence took part in rescue operations, according to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s post on X.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a sharp warning to the United States. “From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response,” he said in a speech published on Telegram, adding that Washington should understand the rules of its war against Tehran “before it is too late.”

In sport, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun criticized the treatment of Mohammed Shami by the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar. Shami has been sidelined since March last year but has been bowling well in domestic cricket. He was due to play his 100th first-class match for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final.

The devotional film “Hanuman Ansh,” based on the life of Neem Karoli Baba, crossed ₹100 crore in net domestic collections. Its takings stood at just over ₹105 crore as of 1 p.m. Sunday, making it the smallest Hindi film by scale to enter the ₹100-crore club, according to the briefing.

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From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response.