A Kolkata court remanded influencer Sharmishta Panoli to 14-day custody for a viral video allegedly hurting religious sentiments. She was arrested from Gurugram after evading multiple legal notices.
Kolkata: On June 01, Social media influencer and law student Sharmishta Panoli was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by the Alipore Court in Kolkata for allegedly posting a derogatory video on Instagram that targeted a minority community and sparked widespread backlash.
Panoli, a 22-year-old resident of Kolkata’s Anandapur area and a student at a Pune-based law university, was arrested from her Gurugram residence on the night of May 30 by Kolkata Police.
On Saturday, she was produced before the Alipore Court, which rejected her bail plea and remanded her to judicial custody until June 13.
she told reporters while being escorted from the court premises,
“The harassment you have done being in a democracy, this is not what democracy is,”
The controversy began after Panoli posted a video on Instagram on May 14, in which she responded to a question from a Pakistani follower regarding India’s military reaction to the Pahalgam terror attack.
In the video, she allegedly made offensive comments about Islam and Prophet Muhammad and criticised Bollywood actors for their silence on the issue.
The video immediately went viral, drawing public outrage and triggering legal action.
Panoli later said she received death and rape threats following the post.
“On 15 May, she deleted the video and issued a public apology on X.”
she wrote,
“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,”
Despite her apology, a First Information Report (FIR) had already been registered on May 15 at the Garden Reach Police Station in Kolkata.
Police said that several attempts were made to serve legal notices to Panoli and her family, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
a Kolkata Police officer said,
“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.”
as per the Kolkata Police,
“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,”
Her legal counsel, advocate Md Samimuddin, stated that they had moved a bail application on her behalf.
he 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. 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…”
Meanwhile, Kolkata Police addressed the growing online criticism regarding Panoli’s arrest. In a post on social media platform X, the police dismissed allegations that the arrest was illegal.
Kolkata Police said,
“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. 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. She was thereafter produced before the appropriate magistrate and granted transit remand as per due process of law.”
The post concluded with a caution to the public:
“We urge all concerned to refrain from spreading unverified or speculative content and to rely on authentic sources for information.”
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