Man who got Sharmishta arrested is accused of same 'hate' offence

The man on whose complaint the Kolkata Police arrested Sharmishta Panoli, a 22-year-old law student and Instagrammer studying in Pune, on charges of hurting Muslim sentiments, has been found to have posted multiple messages insulting Hindus and Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

The man on whose complaint the Kolkata Police arrested Sharmishta Panoli, a 22-year-old law student and Instagrammer studying in Pune, on charges of hurting Muslim sentiments, has been found to have posted multiple messages insulting Hindus and Hindu Gods and Goddesses. A complaint has been filed against him in Kolkata.

Wazahat Khan of Kolkata, who runs the Rashidi Foundation, has been found to have posted multiple social media posts denigrating Hindu deities and making vile comments against Sanatan Dharma. Despite this, he has not been arrested by the Kolkata police.

Wazahat Khan, claiming to be the general secretary of the Rashidi Foundation, had filed the FIR against Sharmishta Panoli and had taken the credit for ensuring her arrest 1,500 km away from Gurgaon.

Sharmishta Panoli had posted an Instagram video lashing out at Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, which contained a reference to Prophet Mohammed, thereby offending Muslims.

Though she deleted the offending post and posted another video apologizing for her action, Kolkata Police travelled all the way to Gurugram and arrested her on Friday afternoon. She was brought to the city on transit remand and produced before the Alipore Police court on Saturday afternoon and sent to judicial custody till June 13.

While being brought out of the court, a distraught Panoli said: "You cannot harass me like this. This is a democracy."

Soon after Panoli's posts started getting criticised by Muslim community leaders across the country, she had deleted the offensive post on Instagram and apologised for her remarks on X.