Madan Sharma, Retired Army Officer | Photo credit: ANI
Key points
- A 62-year-old retired naval officer was beaten by Shiv Sena workers
- He had forwarded a cartoon about Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on WhatsApp.
- Kamlesh Kadam and three others were arrested late at night.
Mumbai: Four people, including Shiv Sena’s Kamlesh Kadam, have been arrested so far in connection with the attack on a retired Navy officer today, Mumbai police said.
An FIR had been registered at the Samta Nagar Police Station, Mumbai, against Kadam and his 8-10 associates for striking a former Navy officer.
A 62-year-old retired naval officer was beaten by alleged Shiv Sena workers after he posted a cartoon about Maharashtra’s chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on WhatsApp on Friday.
‘A government like this should not exist’
Madan Sharma told PTI that he was attacked by 8 to 10 people after receiving threatening calls over a message he had forwarded.
“I have worked for the nation my entire life. A government like this shouldn’t exist, ”Sharma said.
The daughter of the retired officer also criticized the Mumbai police saying that the police came to her residence and insisted on taking her father with them.
Sharma suffered an eye injury and is being treated at the hospital.
In reaction to the incident, the BJP and the leader of the opposition in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis expressed their shock and called on the chief minister of the state to take action against the accused.
‘The people of Maharashtra are not afraid of the vandalism of Sena’
“An extremely sad and shocking incident. A retired naval officer was beaten by thugs just because of a WhatsApp forwarding. Please stop this GundaRaj Hon Uddhav Thackeray ji. We demand strong action and punishment of these thugs,” Fadnavis tweeted, along with a photo of the officer.
Sharma was attacked in the area of the Lokhandwala complex in the suburbs of Kandivali.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said Times now that a local ‘Shakha Pramukh’ from Sena called the former Navy officer and asked him to come down from his building. However, as soon as Sharma fell, around eight people beat him up for allegedly forwarding a Thackeray cartoon on WhatsApp.
“I want to tell the CM of Maharashtra, who is also the head of Sena, that the citizens of Maharashtra will not fear vandalism and will not remain silent,” he said.
