- By Shubham Bajpai
- Sat, 31 May 2025 02:44 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Kolkata Police has arrested a female law student and Instagram influencer for allegedly uttering communal remarks in one of her videos during the escalations between India and Pakistan.
The police said that Panoli uploaded a video on Instagram containing "derogatory and disrespectful" comments targeting a particular religious community.
The woman named Sharmishtha Panoli was arrested in Gurugram by the police. She had, however, deleted the video and had issued an unconditional apology after she received death and rape threats online for her viral video post.
The police official said, "A case was initiated regarding an Instagram video by Sharmistha Panoli that hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community".
Who is Sharmishtha Panoli?
Sharmishtha Panoli is a 22-year-old law student enrolled in Pune Law University. She came to light through her videos on Instagram uploaded in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. While weighing in on India's action against Pakistan, she questioned several celebrities, including podcaster Ranveer Allahabadia.
In one such video, she questioned the silence of Bollywood actors. The post was disapproved of by many, who trolled her and wrote threatening messages in the comments.
#WATCH | Kolkata: Sharmistha Panoli, arrested from Gurugram by Kolkata Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her comments on social media, produced in Alipore Court in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/T1NQCruPAm
— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2025
The backlash and persisting rape, death threats, she deleted her video and issued an apology.
However, a complaint had been filed against her in Kolkata by then. The complaint was followed by notices to her and her family.
When she decamped with her family, a court issued an arrest warrant against her, leading to her arrest from Gurugram on Friday night.
An official from the Kolkata Police said, "Several attempts were made to send legal notices to Panoli and her family but they disappeared. After that the police placed the matter before the court. The court issued her arrest warrant and on Friday night Kolkata Police arrested him from Gurugram".