Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut, reacting to the incident of assault on an ex-Navy officer, on Sunday said in a big state like Maharashtra, “something like this can happen to anyone.”

Madam Sharma, a retired Navy officer, was allegedly beaten up by Shiv Sena workers on late Friday night after he forwarded a cartoon of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray on WhatsApp. Six people, including Shiv Sena leader Kamlesh Kadam, were arrested on Saturday in the case. However, they were released shortly after.

The Rajya Sabha MP said, “Do you know how many ex-servicemen have been attacked in UP? But, Defence Minister didn’t call them,” quoted news agency ANI. Raut added, “Our government believes that no innocent person should be attacked.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said, after speaking with ex-Navy officer Sharma, that such attacks on ex-servicemen are completely “unacceptable and deplorable.”

Raut, who has been caught in a verbal war with actor Kangana Ranaut for days, said, “We have stopped talking about the Kangana Ranaut issue. But we’re taking note of everything & every action which precipitates, in this matter,” quoted ANI.

The Shiv Sena leader and actor Kangana Ranautare engaged in a war of words after the ‘Queen’ actor compared Mumbai to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). “We’ll understand which political party and which individual, think what, of our great state,” Raut added.