New Delhi: An Assam police team has reached Kolkata to arrest Wajahat Khan, the man whose complaint led to the arrest of social media influencer Sharmishta Panoli. Khan now faces charges of hate speech and allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
The five-member Assam police team arrived at Khan’s residence in Kolkata on Wednesday but found no one at home. According to reports, Khan has been missing since Sunday afternoon. His father, Saadat Khan, was also summoned for questioning but was also not present during the police visit.
Inflammatory and derogatory social media content
The crackdown on Khan came after an FIR filed by the Assam police, accusing him of uploading “inflammatory” and “derogatory” social media content that allegedly incites communal tension. A similar complaint was also filed in Kolkata by an NGO, Shri Ram Swabhiman Parishad, leading to a separate FIR at the Garden Reach police station.
The Kolkata police had summoned Khan for questioning twice this week—first on Monday, and again on Tuesday after he failed to appear. A senior official confirmed that Khan is “absconding” and remains untraceable.
Sharmishta Panoli arrested from Gurugram
Khan, who heads the Rashidi Foundation, made headlines after his complaint resulted in the arrest of 22-year-old law student Sharmishta Panoli. She was picked up from Gurugram last week over an Instagram video deemed communally sensitive, reportedly criticising Bollywood celebrities’ silence on Operation Sindoor. She has been remanded to judicial custody till June 13.
Panoli’s arrest triggered a political firestorm, with BJP leaders accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of selectively targeting individuals. Her lawyer, Mohammed Shamimuddin, has alleged procedural lapses in the arrest, calling it a “harakiri” operation by the police.
Sharmishta also got international support from Dutch MP Geert Wilders. He called her arrest a “disgrace for freedom of speech” and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.
