Mumbai, September 12: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday spoke to Madan Sharma, the retired Indian Navy officer was beaten up by alleged Shiv Sena workers in Mumbai. Rajnath, while conveying his anguish over the deplorable assault on the ex-servicemen, wished Sharma a speedy recovery from the wounds he sustained. Shiv Sena Workers Arrested For Assaulting Ex-Navy Officer Released on Bail.

"Spoke to retired naval officer, Madan Sharma who was attacked by hooligans in Mumbai and enquired about his health. Such attacks on ex-servicemen is completely unacceptable and deplorable. I wish Madan ji a speedy recovery," the Defence Minister tweeted following his phone conversation with the ex-Navy officer.

Sharma, 65, had retired from the Navy as the chief petty officer. He was assaulted near his Mumbai residence on Friday for sharing a defamatory cartoon of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray.

See Rajnath Singh's Tweet

Among those accused of attacking Sharma is Kamlesh Kadam, the shakha pramukh of Shiv Sena's Kandivali unit. The assault was captured on CCTV footage. The "attackers", who were arrested last night, were released on bail earlier today.

The case has drawn severe criticism from the opposition in Maharashtra, with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis likening it to state-sponsored terrorism. "It's very wrong amd kind of state-sponsored terror situation. I called upon Uddhav ji through my tweet to stop goonda raj. six accused were released in 10 minutes," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2020 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).