Outraged over the installation of a Mahishasura idol that resembled Mahatma Gandhi at a pandal in southwest Kolkata, people on social media sought immediate arrest of Hindu Mahasabha leaders who organised the Durga puja.

Organisers Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, however, claimed that it was a “coincidence” that the Mahishasura idol, which had a bald head and was dressed in a white dhoti and round glasses, bore resemblance to Gandhi, but social media was not convinced. “Immediately arrest the officials of Hindu Mahasabha for depicting Mahatma Gandhi as ‘asura’ in a Durga Puja at Kolkata,” tweeted one Atanu Chakravarty, tagging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

As the photos of the Durga Puja pandal went viral on social media, the Kolkata Police told the Mahasabha to change the look of the idol and also asked journalist Indradeep Bhattacharyya, who shared it on Twitter, to delete the photograph as it “may create tension” amid the festival. “The Hindu Mahasabha claimed to have changed the idol on Kolkata Police’s request and ‘put moustache and hair’ on it. What an easy solution found by KP,” tweeted Ujjaini.