A "sar tan se juda (beheading)" campaign was unleashed against Sharmishta Panoli, said the father of the 22-year-old influencer who was arrested by Kolkata Police over controversial remarks on Operation Sindoor that allegedly hurt religious sentiments.
"Sharmishta received threats of beheading, rape, acid attack, and burning," claimed her father Prithvi Panoli in an exclusive interview with NDTV, asserting that the attempt was of "online lynching" and not just to scare his daughter. The family details were all public, said Mr Panoli.
The family had to switch their phones off and remove the SIM cards due to the threats, he added.
Ms Panoli had allegedly made communally-charged remarks while responding to a user, probably from Pakistan, who had questioned the Indian military action that followed the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. In a now-deleted Instagram video posted on May 14, she had allegedly used abusive language, sparking outrage. She was arrested in Gurugram on May 31.
The matter turned political with the BJP alleging that the arrest was unlawful. Kolkata Police denied this and claimed they followed all legal procedures, that they had tried to send them notices, but the accused was on the run.
Mr Panoli contested this claim and said it was his duty to protect his family in view of the brutal threats that her daughter received. He said he had been in touch with the Kolkata Police cyber unit and the local police station since May 15, and sent them updates over the threats they were receiving.
"Till May 29, we did not receive any FIR. No notice was pasted on our door, nor did we get anything in the mail. So, I don't know on what basis they are saying that we were absconding," he argued.
On May 19, Mr Panoli said he found a group of people looking at their tower. Scared, he decided to leave for Delhi with his family.
"They tagged our apartment, our tower, her college, and my place of work. Our details were splashed across (social media). In such circumstances, when there is a 'sar tan se juda' campaign on social media, your details are out, and there is no confirmation from the police, what would a father do to protect the family? I thought the best (option) was to leave and come back when things calm down," said Mr Panoli.
Ms Panoli's lawyer has argued that she was arrested in a "harakiri" manner and that there was no prior contact from the police. The Calcutta High Court has ordered the Bengal government to produce the case diary when the accused's interim bail request is taken up for hearing today.
The police have remained defiant despite calls from across the country to release the influencer. Among them is BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who called it wrong to imprison and torture someone who has already apologized and deleted the post. Slamming the West Bengal government, she has demanded that Ms Panoli be released.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has slammed the Trinamool, alleging that the action against the influencer was aimed at "appeasing a certain votebank".
Meanwhile, the person on whose complaint Ms Panoli was arrested also faces an arrest warrant. An Assam Police team is currently in Kolkata to arrest Wajahat Khan, but he is on the run. Kolkata Police, too, has filed a case against him.
