Wazahat Khan, complainant against Sharmistha Panoli, arrested by Kolkata police

KOLKATA: Wazahat Khan, who had complained against social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli for posting an alleged communal video, has been arrested by Kolkata police for allegedly spreading hatred and hurting religious sentiments, police said.

According to Kolkata police, the accused was arrested on Monday evening from Amherst Street police station in connection with a case registered against him under sections 196(1)(a), 299, 352, 353(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) at Golf Green police station.

Khan had filed a complaint against law student Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested by Kolkata Police from Gurugram for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her comments on social media.

#WATCH | Kolkata | BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul says, “Yes, I have filed a police complaint against Wazahat Khan, who filed a police complaint against Sharmistha Panoli. I believe that Dr BR Ambedkar Ji’s constitution is applicable in West Bengal and there should be equal rights and… https://t.co/eQGMThJUkB pic.twitter.com/NhzWf212io

— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2025

Earlier, a complaint was filed against Wazahat Khan Qadri, the man whose FIR led to the law student’s arrest. Prasun Maitra, NGO president from North 24 Parganas, lodged a police complaint accusing Wazahat of repeatedly posting abusive, anti-Hindu posts on X.

In his complaint to the Kolkata Police and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Maitra said, “This is to draw your attention to the following tweets (now deleted) by one Wazahat Khan Qadri Rashidi with the identity of X handle of @rashidi_wazahat hurting religious sentiments of millions of Hindus across the globe. The screenshots of the tweets are enclosed.”

“Your (Kolkata Police) recent activism shows that you are very much against such communally instigating posts and determined to enforce the rule of law. In view of the above, you are requested to initiate appropriate legal action against the person described above, in line with your recent activities and as per the law of the land, so that your integrity doesn’t come under any question”, he said in the complaint.

This came after Panoli, in an Instagram clip, allegedly made derogatory remarks towards a particular religion. She later deleted the video and issued an unconditional apology. However, she was remanded to judicial custody till June 13. (ANI)