Kolkata Police arrested influencer and law student Sharmishta Panoli on Saturday for a contentious video that reportedly offended religious feelings.
In the video that has since been removed, shared on May 14, the 22-year-old used offensive and communal rhetoric, also criticizing Bollywood stars for their silence during Operation Sindoor, initiated to retaliate for the Pahalgam terror attack that resulted in the deaths of 26 innocent people on April 22.
Who is Sharmishta Panoli?
Sharmishta is a student in her fourth year at an institute in Pune, as stated on her LinkedIn profile. She is a social media influencer with more than 94,000 followers on Instagram.
Renowned for her political and commentary-focused videos, she rose to fame due to her assertive opinions.
Following the criticism from her contentious post, she removed all her content from Instagram, including reels and posts.
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A complaint was filed in Kolkata leading to a case being registered against Sharmishta Panoli. The case references sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to inciting animosity based on religion, intentional actions to offend religious sentiments, and purposeful insults aimed at instigating a disturbance of peace.
When attempts to serve notice failed, a court issued an arrest warrant against her, and she was arrested from Gurugram – where she had gone with her family – by the Kolkata Police on Friday.
A court has placed her in judicial custody for a period of 14 days.
