Wajahat Khan, the complainant in the case that led to Panoli’s arrest, has reportedly gone missing. His father, Saadat Khan, in an interview with Aaj Tak, India Today’s sister channel, claimed that his son had not been seen since Sunday night.
The man who filed a police complaint based on which social media influencer and law student Sharmistha Panoli was arrested in Gurugram,has allegedly gone missing. The father of Wajahat Khan, the complainant, has claimed that he had not been seen since last (Sunday) night and that the family had been receiving threatening phone calls ever since Panoli’s arrest.
Sharmistha Panoli’s arrest by the Kolkata Police sparked an outrage on Sunday, with several BJP leaders calling for her release. She was arrested over a video in which she used abusive language and made communal remarks criticising Muslim Bollywood celebrities for remaining silent on Operation Sindoor.
Wajahat Khan, the complainant in the case that led to Panoli’s arrest, received threatening calls following Panoli’s arrest, his family claimed. “My son is innocent and secular. He cannot insult Hinduism. We have been receiving threats since Sharmistha’s arrest,” his father Saadat Khan said in an interview with Aaj Tak, India Today’s sister channel.
While responding to a question about a complaint filed against his son for allegedly insulting the Hindu religion, Saadat Khan said that his son’s profile may have been hacked.
According to him, Wajahat was deeply disturbed by the flood of abusive and threatening calls he had received in the past few days, accusing him of ruining Panoli’s life. Saadat Khan also said that he too received similar threatening calls and was verbally abused.
This development comes even as the Kolkata Police has received a formal complaint against Wajahat Khan. The complaint, filed by the Shree Ram Swabhiman Parishad, accuses Wajahat Khan of making derogatory and inflammatory remarks against the Hindu community on social media platforms.
The letter, addressed to the Officer-in-Charge of Garden Reach Police Station and dated June 2, urges the police to register an FIR against Khan under sections including 196(1)(a), 299, 352, 353(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and sections 66A and 67 of the IT Act.
The complaint alleges that Khan made offensive remarks using terms such as “rapist cultures” and “urine drinkers” to describe Hindus. It further states that Khan used vulgar and sexually explicit language targeting Hindu deities and mocked Hindu religious traditions and temples and festivals.
The letter accuses Khan of spreading content aimed at inciting communal tensions, disrupting public peace, and promoting enmity between religious groups. It urges immediate action to prevent further unrest.
A case has been registered against Khan in Assam over his alleged post. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that a police team from the state would visit West Bengal and seek help in bringing Wajahat Khan to justice.
Sharmistha Panoli was arrested late Friday night, May 30 in Gurugram and brought to Kolkata, where she was presented before a magistrate and sent to 14-day judicial custody. Her arrest followed a complaint lodged at the Garden Reach Police Station on May 15.
The video posted by her that caused the controversy was later deleted, and Panoli issued a public apology.
