A man from West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly supporting Pakistan on social media, police officials said on Saturday.

The Purba Bardhaman police identified the man as Sarif Sheikh and said that he hails from Danihat. A Purba Bardhaman police team has now left for Mumbai to take Sheikh into custody and get him back.

“Sedition, instigation and other charges have been slapped against him. A team of Purba Bardhaman police will take him in transit remand and bring him here soon. We, however, have placed security at his residence so that nobody can hurt his parents,” a senior official of the Purba Bardhaman district police said.

Sheikh is the only son of his parents and used to work as a mason in Kerala, the police said. Later, he went to Mumbai and started a garment business there, the police added.

According to the police, as tensions escalated between India and Pakistan, Sheikh allegedly posted pro-Pakistan slogans on his Facebook wall along with the national flags of Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. Sheikh’s neighbour saw the post and complained to the police. After getting the complaint, the Purba Bardhaman district police informed the Mumbai police, following which Sheikh was arrested.

Sheikh’s post angered the locals, who went to the Danihat police outpost and gheraoed it on Friday night, demanding he be arrested. A group of people also went to his house. The police then allowed the residents to file a complaint against Sheikh. A police team also went to Sheikh’s house in Danihat.

According to the police, Sheikh learnt about the complaint against him and deleted the post.