NEW DELHI: Kolkata Police on Monday arrested Wazahat Khan Qadri — the complainant in the case against Instagram influencer Sharmistha Panoli — in connection with a hate speech case.This comes days after BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul and West Bengal BJP legal cell member Sanjukta Samanta filed FIRs against Qadri for allegedly making communal remarks on social media.The FIRs were registered at the Ballygunge police station in Kolkata and the Howrah police station. Qadri is accused of regularly posting communal and inflammatory content online.Additionally, at least seven separate complaints have been lodged against Qadri, including one with the Lalbazar Cyber Cell. “We are verifying the social media content, and further legal action will follow,” an officer said. Qadri’s account on X has since been locked.Qadri had been “untraceable” since Sunday. His father, Saadaq Khan, alleged that a “witch hunt” had been launched against his son following Panoli’s arrest.He also claimed that Qadri’s accounts may have been hacked and denied any religious bias on his son’s part.“My son is secular. We’ve been receiving threats since Sharmistha’s arrest,” he said.Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court granted interim bail to Sharmistha Panoli on Thursday. The bench ruled that the FIR against her did not reveal any cognisable offence. Panoli, a law student, was arrested in Gurugram last week after a video surfaced in which she criticised Bollywood actors in the context of Operation Sindoor.
