A retired Navy officer was allegedly beaten up by Shiv Sena workers on Friday in Mumbai after the 66-year-old forwarded a cartoon of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on WhatsApp, the police said.

“Retired Navy officer Madan Sharma had forwarded a cartoon on Thackeray on a WhatsApp group. Some Sena workers went to his house and beat him up. Sharma sustained an eye injury and is being treated at a hospital,” a police official said.

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Shiv Sena’s Kamlesh Kadam and three others have been arrested in the incident, the police said, adding that a case under IPC section 325 (causing grievous hurt) and provisions related to rioting has been registered. However, Kadam and the others, who were arrested, were later granted bail, ANI reported. 

“Government should take measures to identify the source of a message from where it’s generated,” Sharma, the retired Navy officer told ANI. He said, every individual in India has the freedom to express and Whatsapp is a medium to stay connected and share information.

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Sharma’s daughter, while talking to ANI, said, the threat calls started coming on her father’s number on Thursday night, and shortly after that some of the Shiv Sena workers arrived at his house and beat him up. The incident took place around 11.30 am in the Lokhandwala Complex area in suburban Kandivali, an official said.

She added, “President’s rule should be implemented here (in Maharashtra), Humanity is no more left in the state.”