2 held in Bengal for painting Pakistani flag on rail toilet

KOLKATA: Bengal police arrested two members of Sanatani Ekta Mancha, a religious outfit, Thursday for attempting to incite communal violence in India-Bangladesh border area of Bongaon in North 24 Parganas. The duo pasted a Pakistan national flag on the wall of a washroom near a railway station on the Sealdah-Bongaon section, police said, adding that they also intended to write the slogans "Hindustan Murdabad" and "Pakistan Zindabad" on the wall to whip up communal tensions in the area.

Dinesh Kumar, SP of Bongaon, said in a post on X that two local residents, Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45) confessed to the act.

Ashok Kirtania, BJP MLA from Bongaon North and a senior member of Sanatani Ekta Manch, however, accused police of "arresting people under false cases." Countering the allegation, Biswajit Das, Trinamool's Bongaon district president, said, "BJP is conspiring to disrupt communal harmony. Police have done their duty."