Speaking to ANI on Friday, Madan Sharma, the former Navy officer, said that he was attacked after he forwarded a message on Whatsapp. “Eight to ten persons attacked and beat me up today after I received threatening calls for a message that I had forwarded. I have worked for the nation my entire life. A government like this should not exist,” Sharma said.

Dr Sheela Sharma, daughter of the former officer said that he was attacked by people from the Shiv Sena after the received threats for forwarding a message on Whatsapp. “My father received threats for forwarding a message. A number of people from the Shiv Sena attacked him. Later, the police came to our residence and insisted on taking my father with them. We’ve registered an FIR.

Reacting to the incident, BJP and opposition leader in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis had earlier expressed shock and appealed to the state’s Chief Minister to take action against the accused.
“An extremely sad and shocking incident. A retired naval officer got beaten up by goons because of just a Whatsapp forward. Please stop this GundaRaj Hon Uddhav Thackeray ji. We demand strong action and punishment to these goons,” Fadnavis tweeted, along with a picture of the officer.