Former Navy Officer Assaulted By Shiv Sainiks Over Cartoon On Maharashtra CM

Circulating a cartoon of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on WhatsApp became a costly affair for a retired Navy officer. Around 8-10 Shiv Sainiks entered and assaulted the former 65-year-old Navy officer Madan Sharma in his society. Sharma suffered a lot of injuries and one of his eyes has turned red after the violent incident. On Friday, six Shiv Sena workers were arrested including Kamlesh Kadam, a Shiv Sena branch chief. However, by Saturday morning, all six accused got bail from Samta Nagar Police Station.

Shiv Sena's Kamlesh Kadam and five others, arrested in connection with the attack on a retired Navy officer, granted bail by Samta Nagar Police Station. #Mumbai https://t.co/vK9mC7lnyb

— ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2020

The former Navy officer circulated CM Uddhav Thackeray's cartoon on WhatsApp in which he was shown bowling in front of NCP President Sharad Pawar and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. When Shiv Sena branch chief Kamlesh Kadam came to know about this, he called Madan Sharma's daughter Dr. Sheela Sharma and her father to come to the ground floor of the society.

Dr. Sheela alleges that when her father went down, 8-10 Shiv Sainiks attacked her father and took him outside the society. The incident of assault was recorded in CCTV camera, which was also tweeted by BJP MLA from Kandivali East, Atul Bhatkhalkar.

अभिनेत्री कंगना राणावत के कार्यालय की तोड़फोड़ करके अपनी मर्दानगी दिखाने वाले सत्ताधारी शिवसेना ने अब सत्ता के मद में एक बुजुर्ग भूतपूर्व नौसेना अधिकारी मदन शर्मा को मारपीट करते हुए उनकी आंख को जबरदस्त चोट पहुंचाई है। मुख्यमंत्री घरबैठे तानाशाही चला रहे है। pic.twitter.com/qF2NVcIN55

— Atul Bhatkhalkar (@BhatkhalkarA) September 11, 2020

Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis tweeted: "Extremely sad & shocking incident. Retired Naval Officer got beaten up by goons because of just a whatsapp forward. Pls stop this GundaRaj Hon Uddhav Thackeray ji. We demand strong action and punishment to these goons."

Extremely sad & shocking incident.
Retired Naval Officer got beaten up by goons because of just a whatsapp forward.
Pls stop this GundaRaj Hon Uddhav Thackeray ji.
We demand strong action and punishment to these goons. https://t.co/g4fQ5xfPYz pic.twitter.com/p1vdP2P0m8

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) September 11, 2020

Sharma has lodged an FIR with the Samata Nagar police station in connection with the case. The police have registered a case under sections 325, 147, 149 against Kamlesh Kadam, and 8 to 10 people.