Influencer Sharmishta Panoli Arrest: The Kolkata police on Friday afternoon arrested a 22-year-old law student from her Gurgaon residence over an allegedly objectionable social media post. The woman, Sharmistha Panoli, is a student of Symbiosis International University, Pune, and has a sizeable social media following — almost 85,000 followers on X and 90,000 on Instagram.
On May 14, the AIMIM’s national spokesperson, Waris Pathan, had shared a video purportedly posted by her and alleged that she had insulted Islam and tried to spread communal disharmony. In his post, Pathan tagged the Home Minister and sought her arrest.
On May 15, Panoli posted on X, “I do hereby tender my unconditional apology. Whatever was put are my personal feelings and I never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody, so if anybody is hurt, I’m sorry for the same. I expect co-operation and understanding. Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public post. Again, please accept my apologies.”
On Saturday, she was produced in a court in Alipore and remanded in judicial custody until 13 June. While leaving the court, she said, “The way this harassment is being done in a democracy — this is not democracy.”
According to the FIR, police received a complaint at Garden Reach police station on May 14 from one Wajahat Khan.
Chief Public Prosecutor, Alipore Police Court, Sourin Ghoshal said, “She knew about the consequences of her actions, being a law student. Several police stations have complaints against her, so we need to question her thoroughly.”
In a statement, the Kolkata Police said, “Certain social media narratives suggesting an unlawful arrest of a law student are factually incorrect and misleading. All legal procedures were duly adhered to. All attempts were made to serve notice, but she was found absconding on every occasion. Consequently, a warrant of arrest was issued by the competent court, following which she was apprehended lawfully from Gurgaon. She was thereafter produced before the appropriate magistrate and granted transit remand as per due process of law. We urge all concerned to refrain from spreading unverified or speculative content and to rely on authentic sources for information.”
She has been charged under sections of promoting enmity between different groups, acts intended to outrage religious feelings, insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and statements that incite public mischief.
Her counsel Shamim Uddin told The Indian Express, “We applied for bail and submitted that her mobile and laptop had already been seized and her statement recorded, but the court rejected the prayer.”
In a post on X, Sivaganga MP and Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said, “These interstate arrests for social media posts (unless it’s clearly demonstrated that it has lead to a law and order situation) is blatantly a misuse of police powers.”
When contacted, Gurgaon police spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said, “Kolkata police just informed us that a special team will be coming. We do not have details about the case being handled by them.”
Pro Chancellor of Symbiosis International University, Vidya Yeravdekar, said, “We heard what she said only on social media, and the kind of language used is completely unbecoming of a Symbiosis student or any Indian citizen, for that matter. We followed the code of conduct of the university and had a disciplinary committee meeting. The student has been suspended from academic and non-academic activities for three months. We teach the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and respect for all cultures and religions. We have taken strict action and barred her from placements as well.”