Five arrested in Chhattisgarh for hoisting Palestine-like flags

Bilaspur: Five people were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly hoisting flags resembling that of Palestine on Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur city, police said.

A complaint was received on Monday evening that Palestinian flags were flying over some houses at Khudiram Bose square in Tarbahar police station area, City Superintendent of Police Puja Kumar said.

A police team visited the spot and had the flags removed from the roofs of five houses, she said.

A case was registered under section 197 (2) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Sheikh Sameer Bkash (20), Fidel Khan (24), Mohamma Shoaib (23), Sheikh Azeem (19) and Sheikh Sameer (22) were arrested, the SP said.

The accused allegedly told police that they hoisted the flags to express solidarity with Palestinians after watching `atrocities' being committed on them, the official said.

Israel has been carrying out a massive military offensive in Gaza, a Palestinian territory, for the last about one year following the unprecedented attack on Israeli cities by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.

The accused allegedly stitched the flags themselves. Further investigation was on, the SP said.