Portugal row man held

AN INDIAN man has been arrested after upsetting his football-mad neighbours by tearing up a Portugal flag when he mistook it for the emblem of a controversial Islamist group.

Social media footage showed Deepak Elangode pulling the flag off its pole and tearing it into strips before throwing the pieces onto the roadside in the small town of Panoor in southern Kerala state.

The flag had been put up by local fans of star player Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portuguese team. They then rushed to confront the vandal, local media outlet Mathrubhumi reported.

A police officer in Panoor confirmed to journalists that Elangode was arrested for causing a public nuisance but later released on bail.

Portugal’s red-andgreen flag bears a resemblance to that of the Social Democratic Party

of India (SDPI), and local reports said the man was expressing his disgust for the group.

The SDPI is the political wing of the Popular Front of India, an Islamist movement that was banned in September for alleged terrorism links. It still has a solid base of support in communities around Panoor.

Kerala is a bastion of football fanaticism in a country better known for its obsession with cricket. Every four years, towns around the state throw up a kaleidoscope of blue, gold and green to show their support for rival football powerhouses Brazil and Argentina during the World Cup.

Ronaldo’s star power has broadened Portugal’s Indian fan base outside of its traditional bastion further north in Goa, a popular resort destination that was for centuries colonised by the Portuguese.