Activist Sudha Bharadwaj, accused in Bhima-Koregaon case, placed under house arrest until August 30

In a major development involving the arrest of activist Sudha Bharadwaj, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Faridabad has recalled the transit remand. Bharadwaj was earlier in custody of the Maharashtra police, and has now been placed under house arrest at her home in Badarpur that borders Haryana with the national capital. She will be under house arrest till August 30, NDTV reported.

According to Bar and Bench, the Pune city police were on their way with Bharadwaj to the airport. Once they received a call from the CJM, the police returned to his residence for the hearing.

Bhardwaj, 54, has been living in Chhattisgarh for nearly three decades. Known as trade unionist, Bhardwaj has worked extensively in the field of human rights and civil liberty. General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Bharadwaj was 11 when she came to India. An American citizen by birth, Bhardwaj gave up her US citizenship at the age of 18. She studied at the IIT-Kanpur. It was after her graduation in 1984 that Bhardwaj started working for the people affected by the land acquisitions done by the private sectors companies.

Bharadwaj has been charged under Sections 153a, 505, 117 and 120 of the Indian Penal Code and several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The police had seized all her electronic devices.