Kolkata Police arrested Sharmistha Panoli, 22, an influencer and a law student in Pune, from Gurugram on Friday night over allegations of hurting religious sentiments. She is a resident of Kolkata’s Anandapur area. The Kolkata court, yesterday, remanded her in judicial custody for 14 days.
Multiple attempts were made to serve legal notices to Panoli and her family, but these efforts were unsuccessful as they had absconded. As a result, the court issued an arrest warrant, leading to her subsequent arrest, the Kolkata Police said.
A look at top 10 updates in Sharmistha Panoli case
- The Kolkata Police on Saturday stated, “The case relates to an Instagram video by a lady named Sharmishta Panoli that hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community. FIR was lodged in Garden Reach Police Station. Attempts to serve notice as per law couldn’t be successful since the accused, with her family absconded. Subsequently, warrant of arrest was issued by the court of law, based on which she was arrested from Gurgaon yesterday.”
2. The case originated after Panoli posted a video on Instagram on 14 May, in response to a question from a Pakistani follower regarding India’s military action following the Pahalgam terror attack. In the video, she allegedly made derogatory comments about Islam and Prophet Muhammad, and also criticised Bollywood actors for their silence on the issue.
3. On May 15, Panoli had deleted the video and made an apology after receiving death threats as the video went viral. She mentioned, “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.”
4. She went on to clarify that her remarks were made in response to threats from “radical Pakistani terrorists,” stating, “Mere liye mera desh pehle aata hai” (For me, my country comes first).
5. Her advocate said, “We moved our bail application before the court, citing that the articles that have been allegedly stated by the prosecution to have been used, the mobile phone and the laptop, have already been seized. Subsequently, the court heard our prayer.”
6. “The police custody prayer was sought by the prosecution, which was turned down and rejected. The accused has been remanded to judicial custody till 13th of June, 2025,” the advocate added.
7. Kolkata Police dismissed the “factually incorrect” and “misleading” certain social media narratives indicating that the arrest of the law student was “unlawful.”
8. “FIR was filed against Mahua Moitra also. She made derogatory comments about Goddess Kali. Was any action taken? What did their (TMC) MP, Saayoni Ghosh, post regarding Mahadev? Was any action taken? There have been so many FIRs against Firhad Hakim, but there has been no action,” West Bengal Assembly LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the arrest of Panoli, alleging that action is taken only against “Sanatanis”.
He added, “The action is only taken against Sanatanis. Everyone here has a licence to abuse Sanatana… This is appeasement politics. A certain community is their vote bank and this is for appeasement. Mahua Moitra used derogatory language against Goddess Kali in a talk show, 200 FIRs were registered. No action was taken…”
9. On Saturday, she was produced before Alipore Court in Kolkata. The court remanded her in judicial custody for 14 days.
10. “Blasphemy must be condemned, always! Secularism isn’t a shield for some and a sword for others. It must be a two-way street. West Bengal Police, the nation is watching. Act justly for all,” Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan stated on X. He added, “She owned her mistake, deleted the video and apologized. The WB (West Bengal) Police swiftly acted, taking action against Sharmishta.”