Bengal: Chandan, Progyajit Mondal arrested for trying to incite tension with poster of Pakistan flag
Kolkata, May 1 (PTI): West Bengal Police has arrested two persons for allegedly pasting an image of Pakistani flag on the wall of a railway station in North 24 Parganas district and writing 'Hindustan Murdabad' to engineer communal disturbances, a senior officer said on Thursday.
Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45), both described as active members of a political party and associated with the fringe outfit Sanatani Ekta Manch, were apprehended on Wednesday night in Bongaon area, police added.
The duo confessed to pasting the poster flag and writing "Hindustan Murdabad" on the wall of a toilet near Akaipur railway station under the jurisdiction of Gopalnagar police station, the officer added.
According to police, the accused intended to provoke communal unrest by making the image public and attributing it to another community or group.
However, the plan was thwarted through timely intervention, police added.
"Yesterday night, a Pakistani National flag was found to be pasted on the walls of a washroom beside Akaipur railway station under Gopalnagar PS. Investigation revealed that this was willfully done by one Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45), both local residents and active members of a political party as also of Sanatani Ekta Manch," Bongaon police said in a post on X.
"They have confessed to the act and revealed that they had planned to write 'Hindustan Murdabad and Pakistan Zindabad' on that wall to create communal disturbances in the area. Both have been arrested in a specific case. Further investigation is on," it added.
"We shall spare no efforts to bring to book those who are hatching such conspiracies to trigger communal unrest," the post said.
Twenty-six people, including 25 tourists, were killed in a terror attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir on April 22 triggering a global outrage.
Different political parties and the Union government have referred to the alleged role of Pakistan-based agencies in sponsoring terror in Kashmir, but the neighbouring country denied its role.
The ruling TMC in Bengal have cautioned against any attempt by certain right wing fringe groups to disrupt law and order and instigate violence by flagging the Kashmir attack and called for a united effort to fight terrorism.
Yesterday night, a Pakistani National flag was found to be pasted on the walls of a washroom beside Akaipur railway station under Gopalnagar PS. Investigation revealed that this was wilfully done by 1. Chandan Malakar (30) and 2. Progyajit Mondal (45), both local residents and…
— SP BONGAON PD (@SP_Bongaon_PD) May 1, 2025
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
