Who is Sharmishta Panoli? Social media influencer arrested in Gurgaon over ‘communal’ post on Operation Sindoor

The post reportedly triggered severe backlash online, with many social media users threatening Panoli in the comments section, accusing her of promoting hate speech.

The trolling forced the influencer to take the post down and issue a public apology.

“I do hereby tender my unconditional apology. Whatever was put are my personal feelings and I never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody, so if anybody is hurt, I’m sorry for the same. I expect co-operation and understanding. Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public post. Again, please accept my apologies,” Panoli wrote in a post on X.

I do hereby tender my UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY whatever was put are my personal feelings and i never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody so if anybody is hurt I’m sorry for the same. I expect co-operation and understanding. Henceforth, i will be cautious in my public post. Again…

— Sharmishta (@Sharmishta__19) May 15, 2025

Who is Sharmishta Panoli?

Panoli is a 22-year-old social media influencer with a sizeable following- almost 85,000 followers on X and 90,000 on Instagram.

A law student at the Symbiosis International University, Pune, she is a resident of Kolkata’s Anandapur area.

She grabbed headlines after posting a video on Instagram, where she allegedly questioned Hindi film actors’ silence on Operation Sindoor.

Before she deleted the post, several, including AIMIM’s national spokesperson Waris Pathan, shared the purported video by her, alleging that she had insulted religious sentiments and tried to spread communal disharmony. He sought her arrest.

A complaint was also filed against her in Kolkata, which was followed by notices to her and her family.

When she decamped with her family, a court issued an arrest warrant against her, and she was nabbed in Gurgaon on Friday.

#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

Panoli has been booked under relevant sections for promoting enmity between different groups, malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, apart from intentional insult, provoking breach of peace, said a Kolkata Police officer, according to news agency PTI.

“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,” a Kolkata Police officer said.

She was produced in a court on Saturday (May 31) in Alipore, which sent her to judicial custody until 13 June, after her bail plea was rejected. While leaving the court, she said, “The way this harassment is being done in a democracy — this is not democracy.”