Instagram influencer held in Gurugram

Sharmishta Panoli, a social media influencer on Instagram, was arrested by Kolkata police from Gurugram for allegedly uploading a video with communal overtones. Panoli was arrested on Friday night after she, in a now-deleted video, accused Hindi film actors of maintaining silence over Operation Sindoor. Following an uproar over the video and a complaint, Kolkata Police traced her to Gurugram. She was produced at a court in Kolkata on Saturday which sent her to judicial custody till June 13 after her bail petition was rejected. Panoli is a student enrolled at Pune’s Law University and had posted a video criticising popular actors. The video quickly went viral and stirred significant outrage on social media. Facing heavy trolling, Panoli deleted the video from her account and even issued an apology. However, Kolkata Police had already lodged an FIR against her and issued legal notices. Due to the inability to serve the legal notice, the police placed the matter before a court, which issued an arrest warrant against Panoli. “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,” said an official of Kolkata police. (With agency inputs)

Haryana Tribune