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After Sharmistha Panoli, Kolkata Police Arrests Wajahat Khan For Hate Speech
Kolkata Police on Monday have arrested Wajahat Khan, the complainant whose FIR led to the arrest of social media influencer and law student Sharmistha Panoli on May 30. Khan, a resident of Kolkata and head of the Rashidi Foundation, was apprehended after evading authorities since June 1, following multiple summons and a series of raids. Panoli was accused of hurting the sentiments of the Muslim faith after she used derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad. After her arrest, several old posts of Wajahat had surfaced with derogatory remarks targeting Hindu deities and traditions on social media, triggering a legal storm across multiple states.
Khan’s initial complaint, filed on May 15 at Kolkata’s Garden Reach Police Station, accused Panoli of posting a video that allegedly promoted communal disharmony and insulted Muslims. Kolkata Police arrested Panoli from Gurugram, Haryana. However, the tables turned when the Shri Ram Swabhiman Parishad, a charitable trust, filed an FIR against Khan on June 2 at the same Garden Reach Police Station. The complaint accused him of sharing “malicious and inflammatory posts” using derogatory terms like “rapist cultures” and “urine drinkers” to describe Hindus, alongside sexually explicit remarks targeting Hindu deities.
Further intensifying the situation, arrest warrant for Khan was issued in Assam, with a team of Assam Police arriving in Kolkata to seek his custody. But khan remained evasive. In addition to the FIRs in Kolkata and Assam, complaints against Khan have surfaced in Delhi and Mumbai, accusing him of hate speech and religious defamation. Kolkata Police also registered a case at Golf Green Police Station based on a complaint by Sujit Ghosh, alleging Khan’s posts incited communal tensions. Despite his family’s claims that Khan is “innocent and secular” and that his social media account may have been hacked, he remained absconding until his arrest.
Panoli, who was granted interim bail by the Calcutta High Court last Thursday, had sparked political debate, with BJP leaders criticising her arrest as “selective enforcement.” Khan’s arrest now shifts the focus on hate speech and equal law. He will be produced before the court on Tuesday.
