Two men held for placing Pakistan flag in washroom in attempt to ‘create unrest’

Arrests made after Pakistani flag incident in West Bengal, sparking communal tensions; police vow to take action.

Two men of the ‘Sanatani Ekta Manch’ group were arrested after they pasted a Pakistani flag on the walls of a washroom at Bongaon in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday (April 30, 2025) night. Police said that it was an attempt to cause a communal incident.

The flag was found pasted on the walls of a washroom beside the Akaipur railway station under Gopalnagar Police Station in Bongaon.

According to Bongaon Superintendent of Police, Dinesh Kumar, the two arrested men have confessed. The two were identified as Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45), both local residents and active members of a political party, according to police officials.

“They had planned to write ‘Hindustan Murdabad and Pakistan Zindabad’ on the wall to create a communal disturbance,” the official statement by the Bongaon SP stated. A case has been registered against the two.  

The police have also stated that they will “spare no efforts to bring to book those who are hatching these conspiracies to trigger communal unrest.”

On April 24, the Baruipur Police had shut down claims by the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, that two alleged Kashmiri men had installed a “high-performance wireless network bridge” on the rooftop of their residence.

He had also posted an address on social media, causing the police to investigate. Police later clarified that the device was a standard JioFiber internet router, and no suspicious materials were found.