Inside Kaptanganj: How a religious flag dispute and a loudspeaker turned a border village deadly

A month-old incident that engulfed a village that had never seen Hindu-Muslim conflict before shows what happens when religious tensions in plain sight and official warnings go unheeded.

Om Prakash Mehta was already in bed at around 9 pm on the evening of July 26. But as tensions began rising at the Kaptanganj Chowk, about 700 metres from his home, he watched videos on social media of his own friends at the scene, and decided to go there as well. His father, Krishnadev, tried to stop him, but he didn’t listen.