Female Instagram influencer and law student Sharmishtha Panoli was arrested by the Kolkata police from Gurugram on Friday night. According to the local police sources, Panoli was arrested for making a post on Instagram in which she alleged that the Hindi film actors were silent on Operation Sindoor.
She was produced at a court in Kolkata on Saturday which sent her to judicial custody till 13 June after her bail petition was rejected. The 22-year-old woman is a resident of Kolkata's Anandapur area, enrolled in Pune's Law University.
What are the charges on Sharmishtha?
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.
Panoli had issued an apology -
The post was disapproved of by many, who trolled her and wrote threatening messages in the comments. The backlash forced her to delete the video and issue an apology. But by then, a complaint had been filed against her in Kolkata, followed by notices to her and her family. When she decamped with her family, a court issued an arrest warrant against her. She was then arrested in Gurugram on Friday night.
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"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 her from Gurugram," a Kolkata Police officer said.
Kolkata police say arrest 'lawful' -
Dismissing allegations of unlawful arrest of Panoli over a video containing alleged communal remarks related to Operation Sindoor, Kolkata Police stated that multiple attempts were made to serve her a legal notice, but she deliberately dodged them.
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