Bulandshahr, Sept. 4 -- Swatantra Bharadwaj on Friday clarified an alleged claim of assaulting the father of CJP activist Nishu Azad during a protest at Jantar Mantar, saying that the incident was an act of "self-defence."

Bharadwaj said that what was being described as an attack was an act of self-defence and claimed that he could have been lynched or killed if he had not acted.

His clarification came after a podcast clip surfaced on social media in which he appeared to claim that he had "cracked the skull" of Nishu's father and avoided arrest despite the alleged assault.

Bharadwaj told ANI, "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...