There is a threat to Union minister Narayan Rane's life in police custody, a BJP legislator in Maharashtra claimed on Tuesday.

State minister and Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil, meanwhile, said Rane should be given "shock treatment" as he has lost his "balance".

The Union minister was treated roughly by the police, BJP Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Prasad Lad alleged while talking to reporters at Sangameshwar in coastal Ratnagiri district.

Rane was taken to Sangmeshwar police station after he was arrested over his statement that he would have slapped chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for `forgetting the year of India's independence'. "Police pushed Rane while he was having his lunch. He is nearly 70. Should a person of such age be treated like this? We feel there is a threat to his life," Lad said.

"A doctor who did his check-up said Rane is diabetic but he could not check the sugar level. His blood pressure has increased. The current readings are 160/110. The doctor also said they took his ECG and considering he is a diabetes patient, his sugar needs to be checked and he should be hospitalized," the BJP legislator added.

Lad also expressed apprehension that police may not produce Rane before a magistrate till 6 pm so that he does not get bail during the day.

"The police may harass him during the night. The Nashik police which has sent a team to arrest him has not yet reached here, Lad claimed. Speaking in Mumbai, Sena leader and minister Gulabrao Patil said Rane "has lost his balance". "He should be taken to Thane and given shock treatment to cure him," Patil said, apparently referring to the state-run mental hospital there.

The action against Rane is appropriate as it sends out a strong message to everyone who uses un-parliamentary language against people holding constitutional posts. Rane seems to have forgotten that he was once chief minister of Maharashtra, he further said.

Patil also claimed that Rane's entry into the BJP was a "major threat" to leaders in that party including Devendra Fadnavis, Pravin Darekar and Chandrakant Patil.