Thackeray blasts Bhagwat

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has dismissed allegations levelled against him by sacked navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat as the barking of a mad dog8217;.

8220;Bhagwat should furnish evidence to back his allegations about my so-called links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and in case he fails to do so, he should jump into the sea,8221; Thackeray has said in a statement published in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna

today. The Sena leader justified the sacking of the navy chief saying, 8220;Otherwise, the virus of a mad dog would have spread to other armed forces affecting discipline of the services.8221;

In a direct attack on Bhagwat, Thackeray alleged that because of a corrupt navy chief like you, boats of smugglers could reach our shores safely.8221;