Who Is Sharmistha Panoli, Law Student Arrested For ‘Derogatory’ Remark On Operation Sindoor?
Sharmistha Panoli is a 22-year-old law student, studying at Pune's Law University as per reports. Read to know more.
Pune Law student and influencer Sharmistha Panoli, has been arrested from Gurugram for her alleged controversial remark criticising Bollywood celebrities for being ‘silence’ on Operation Sindoor. The now deleted video, had derogatory and disrespectful comments aimed at a particular community according to the police. Internet users flooded her comment section with demands of her deleting the videos and issuing a public apology.
Pune Law Student Arrested
Following this, an FIR was lodged in Kolkata late on Friday, May 30 night, where the Kolkata Police tracked her down and arrested her in Harayana’s Gurugram. According to the Kolkata Police, all attempts to serve notice were unsuccessful, and Sharmistha Panoli fled on each occasion. She was brought before Alipore Court on Saturday and placed into prison by police.
Who Is Sharmistha Panoli?
Sharmistha Panoli is a 22-year-old law student, studying at Pune’s Law University as per PTI. She is also a social media influencer with around 80,000 followers on both Instagram and X (Previously Twitter). Following the immense backlash on her Instagram post, she deleted the video and issued a public apology on X. Along with this, she also deleted each of her posts, and also issued an ‘unconditional apology’ stating she never ‘intentionally’ wanted to hurt anyone.
#WATCH | Kolkata: Sharmistha Panoli, arrested from Gurugram by Kolkata Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her comments on social media, produced in Alipore Court in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/T1NQCruPAm
— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2025
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The controversy regarding Sharmistha Panoli started on May 14, 2025 when the Instagram influencer shared a video responding to a Pakistani’s follower’s question. It was about Indian Military’s reaction to the Pahalgam attack. She made derogatory remarks about Islam and Prophet Muhammad, triggering online hate. She also criticised Bollywood celebrities for their ‘silence’ on Operation Sindoor according to multiple reports.
#ArrestSharmishta also started trending on X after Panoli’s video went viral. According to police sources, the FIR against Panoli was lodged under sections 196(1) (a) promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste, or community, 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens), 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace), and 353(1)(c) (statements that incite public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, re
First Published: May 31, 2025 6:09 PM
