Who is Sharmishta Panoli? Social media influencer detained for her controversial remarks linked to 'Operation Sindoor'

Sharmishta Panoli, a social media content creator and influencer, was arrested by the Kolkata Police in Gurugram, Haryana, on Friday night for allegedly sharing a communal video that triggered significant outrage on social media.

In a now-deleted Instagram video, the content creator reportedly made controversial remarks criticising Bollywood celebrities for being silent on 'Operation Sindoor', reported HT.

As per the report, police sources also revealed that the video led to a strong backlash, with numerous users accusing the influencer of spreading hate speech. Following this, she also faced intense trolling and received threatening messages in the comment section.

But who is Sharmishta Panoli? Let's find out.

The bhakt mandali is cursing #KolkataPolice for arresting #Sharmishta Panoli as if they have committed a huge crime by pursuing a warrant that has been issued by the court. THE COURT HAS ISSUED A WARRENT AND POST THAT YOU NEED NOT BE SERVED A NOTICE. After Warrant police has to¡­ pic.twitter.com/NmBfsQLEcM

¡ª Tamal Saha (@Tamal0401) May 31, 2025

Who is Sharmishta Panoli?

After the video went viral and the influencer faced major backlash, the authorities made multiple attempts to serve legal notices to Sharmishta Panoli and her family, but they went untraceable. However, a court issued an arrest warrant, leading to her eventual detention in Gurugram, reported PTI.

Sharmishta Panoli is a 22-year-old law student from Pune who was arrested on Friday in Gurugram for her controversial remarks linked to Operation Sindoor. However, later Panoli had deleted the allegedly offensive post on her Instagram and also apologised for her remarks on both X (formerly called Twitter) and Instagram.

The content creator has now made her Instagram account private and has deleted all the posts from her other handle. On May 15, she also issued an unconditional apology, saying that her intention was never to hurt anyone's religious feelings.

Credit: X

Complaints filed against Sharmishta Panoli

Following this, the influencer was produced before a Gurugram court and was brought to Kolkata on transit remand, as per the Indian Express.

According to HT, police sources have revealed that the FIR was filed under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 196(1)(a) for promoting enmity between different groups based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste, or community; Section 299 for deliberate and malicious acts intended to offend the religious sentiments of any group; Section 352 for intentional insult aimed at provoking a breach of peace; and Section 353(1)(c) for making statements that incite public unrest.

To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending.