A Kolkata court remanded a 22-year-old Instagram influencer to 14 days of judicial custody for allegedly posting a video containing communal remarks and accusing Bollywood actors of remaining silent on Operation Sindoor.
The influencer, Sharmishtha Panoli, a resident of Kolkata’s Anandapur neighborhood and a law student at a university in Pune, was arrested by the Kolkata police from her residence in Gurugram on Friday night.
Panoli was produced in a Kolkata court on Saturday, where her bail petition was denied. She was sent to judicial custody until June 13.
While leaving the court, Panoli told reporters, “The harassment you have done being in a democracy, this is not what democracy is.”
The video in question, now deleted, allegedly contained derogatory and disrespectful remarks aimed at a particular religious community, according to Kolkata Police officials.
The video sparked significant backlash online, with users trolling Panoli and posting threatening comments. She later deleted the video and posted an apology on social media.
“Whatever was put are my personal feelings and I never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody. If anybody is hurt, I’m sorry for the same. Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public post," she wrote on X.
Despite the apology, a complaint had already been filed against her in Kolkata. Police said multiple legal notices were sent to Panoli and her family, who allegedly left their residence soon after. A court subsequently issued an arrest warrant.
“Several attempts were made to send legal notices to Panoli and her family, but they disappeared,” a Kolkata Police officer said. “After that, the police placed the matter before the court. The court issued her arrest warrant and on Friday night, Kolkata Police arrested her from Gurugram.”
The accused woman has been booked under relevant sections for promoting enmity between different groups, malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, apart from intentional insult, provoking breach of peace, a Kolkata Police officer said.