Pune student arrested for social media post ‘hurting religious sentiments’

A 22-year-old law student was arrested by Kolkata Police in Gurugram on Friday for social media posts related to Operation Sindoor that allegedly hurt religious sentiments, The Indian Express reported.

The student, identified as Sharmishta Panoli, is a fourth-year business and law student at a Pune university. She had reportedly made the comments on Instagram but later deleted the post and issued an apology on X.

Panoli was produced before a court in Gurugram and will be taken to Kolkata on a transit remand, the newspaper quoted officials as saying.

The student’s lawyer told ANI that her mobile phone and laptop have been seized by the police. Panoli was remanded to judicial custody till June 13, the lawyer said.

A case was registered against Panoli at Kolkata’s Garden Reach Police Station on May 15, the newspaper reported.

The police said that several attempts were made to serve legal notice to Panoli but she and her family were untraceable. After these efforts failed, a court issued an arrest warrant following which police tracked and arrested her from Gurugram, the Hindustan Times reported.

The first information report was filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to promoting enmity between groups, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings, intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace and statements...

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