Kolkata: The man whose complaint led to the arrest of law student and social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli has reportedly gone missing, his family claimed on Monday. Wajahat Khan, the complainant, has not been seen since Sunday night, according to his father, Saadat Khan, who also alleged that the family has been receiving threatening phone calls ever since Panoli’s arrest.
Sharmistha Panoli was taken into custody by the Kolkata Police on May 30 from Gurugram over a video in which she used abusive and communal language, targeting Muslim Bollywood actors for their silence on Operation Sindoor. Her arrest triggered outrage on social media, with several BJP leaders demanding her release.
Family alleges account hacked
After her arrest, Wajahat Khan allegedly received a barrage of abusive calls accusing him of being responsible for Panoli’s detention. Speaking to Aaj Tak, his father said Wajahat was deeply disturbed by the backlash. “My son is a secular person. He cannot insult Hinduism. We believe his account may have been hacked,” Saadat Khan said, adding that he too had received threats and verbal abuse.
Meanwhile, Wajahat Khan is now facing legal trouble himself. A Kolkata-based Hindu group, Shree Ram Swabhiman Parishad, has filed a complaint against him, accusing him of making derogatory comments about the Hindu faith on social media. The complaint, submitted to Garden Reach Police Station on June 2, urged police to take action under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
Booked for hate speech
The complaint alleges Khan used vulgar and inflammatory terms like “rapist cultures” and “urine drinkers” to describe Hindus and also mocked deities, religious festivals, and temples. He has also been booked in Assam for similar remarks, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirming that a state police team will be sent to West Bengal to trace and act against him.
Panoli, on the other hand, remains in 14-day judicial custody in Kolkata. While she has taken down the controversial video and issued an apology, the Kolkata Police defended the arrest, stating that hate speech cannot be justified as freedom of expression.
