Shiv Sena bullies man over Facebook post

Mumbai: The Wadala TT police station registered a case against a Shiv Sena office bearer and his supporters for assaulting a man and shaving off his head for posting a derogatory comment against party supreme and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The victim was identified as Hiramani Tiwari (33), a medical representative with a pharmacy company. The skirmish started on Friday, when he had posted the comment on his social networking profile.

The comment was in criticism of the chief minister’s comparison of police crackdown on Jamia Milia Islamia students to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. After the message went viral, one of Tiwari’s friends, Prakash Hasbe, a Sena shakha pramukh, objected to the message. Tiwari, however, apologised for the comment.

“On Sunday, some people met Tiwari and summoned him to meet Shiv Sena office bearer Samadhan Jugdhar. The meeting took place near a temple where Hasbe was also present. Tiwari was verbally abused and subsequently assaulted after which a crowd gathered at the spot,” the police said.

Soon after, the duo pulled out a trimmer and shaved his head with the same. The mob captured the incident on camera. The clip later became viral. A patrol team of the local police arrived at the spot and cleared the mob and brought Tiwari and the party functionaries to police station.

Both sides amicably settled the issue and decided not to lodge a complaint against each other. The police hence let them off after serving a legal notice under Section 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to both sides, the official said.

The CrPC's section 149 is a legal tool given to police to prevent the commission of a cognisable offence.

The same night Tiwari got admitted to Sion Hospital after his ears started bleeding and underwent medication.

However, on Monday morning, Tiwari received a web link from a friend that was streaming the video. Enraged by the viral video, Tiwari decided to lodge a formal complaint with the police and seek criminal action against the culprits.

Tiwari claimed he was earlier with right-wing outfits like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, and asserted that the group which beat him up should have taken legal recourse against his post than take law into their hands in this manner.

“I want police to take action against these Sena men. I was just airing my views,” Tiwari said.

Mr Thackeray had on December 17 likened the police crackdown on students of the Jamia Millia Islamia to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Talking to reporters, he had said, “There is a deliberate attempt to create an atmosphere of unrest in society. The way police opened fire on students by forcefully entering the compound, it appeared like the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.”