As the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal slammed the Mamata Bannerjee-led government for arresting Instagram influencer Sharmishtha Panoli, for her alleged communal comments on Operation Sindoor, the Kolkata police called the claims "false and misleading".
Opposition leader in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, lashed out at the Trinamool Congress government and said the 22-year-old student studying at Pune Law University was arrested to "appease" a certain votebank. He charged action was taken only against Sanatanis under the Mamata Banerjee government.
"What they (Trinamool Congress) are doing is appeasement politics. A certain community is their votebank and they are doing this to appease them. Mahua Moitra used derogatory language against Goddess Kali in a talk show, 200 FIRs were registered. Was any action taken? No," NDTV reported quoting Adhikari.
Panoli, an Instagram influencer, was arrested by Kolkata police on Friday for allegedly making defamatory, communal remarks against Bollywood actors in an Instagram post on Operation Sindoor. The post has been deleted. A Kolkata court has remanded Panoli for 13-day judicial custody. Panoli alleged Hindi film actors were silent on Operation Sindoor. Panoli deleted the post after several online users criticised her comments.
However, Kolkata police denied claims that the arrest was unlawful. "In reference to Garden Reach Police Station Case No. 136 dated 15.05.2025, certain social media narratives suggesting an unlawful arrest of a law student are factually incorrect and misleading. All legal procedures were duly adhered to," the police said in a social media post on X.
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Police said while attempts were made to serve notice to Panoli, she was absconding. Police arrested her from Gurgaon. "All attempts were made to serve notice, but she was found absconding on every occasion. Consequently, a warrant of arrest was issued by the competent court, following which she was apprehended lawfully from Gurgaon," it said.
"We urge all concerned to refrain from spreading unverified or speculative content and to rely on authentic sources for information," police added.
