Who is Sharmishta Panoli, the social media influencer arrested for her video on Operation Sindoor?

Sharmishta Panoli, a Social media influencer was arrested by the Kolkata police from Gurugram in Haryana on Friday (May 30) night. The arrest was made for allegedly uploading a video on social media that had communal overtones.

In the video that went viral, Panoli allegedly made communal remarks while accusing Bollywood actors of remaining silent on Operation Sindoor. According to the police, her video “derogatory and disrespectful" in nature was aimed at a particular religious community.

Later, Panoli, after facing backlash with many users even writing threatening comments on Instagram, deleted the video social media and issued an apology.

However, a complaint had already been lodged against her in Kolkata and notices were issued to her and her family.

When repeated attempts to serve legal notices failed, the Kolkata police approached the court and a warrant was issued against Panoli and she was arrested.

Panoli was produced before the Alipore CJM Court which sent her to judicial custody for two weeks.

Who is Sharmishta Panoli?

Sharmishtha Panoli is 22 years of age and studies law at the Pune Law University. She has been active on social media for a while and has a strong following on her Instagram. Her public Instagram handle has over 93k followers.

On 14 May 2025, she posted a video in response to a Pakistani social media user questioning India's position on the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people based on their religion.

In the clip, that went viral Panoli criticised Bollywood celebrities for remaining silent on Operation Sindoor that India carried out against terror camps in Pakistan.

After facing backlash Panoli deleted the video and wrote, “I do hereby tender my UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY. Whatever was put are my personal feelings and I never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody. So anybody is hurt, I'm sorry… Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public posts.”