Wajahat Khan, the man whose complaint led to the arrest of Instagram influencer Sharmishta Panoli by Kolkata Police, is now facing legal trouble himself. Multiple FIRs have been registered against Khan in at least three different locations, accusing him of making sexually explicit and derogatory remarks about Hindu goddesses, deities, and religious practices.
One of the complaints, filed by the Shree Ram Swabhiman Parishad, alleges that Khan’s social media posts were intended to promote enmity between religious groups and could potentially incite public unrest. The police have now launched an investigation into the allegations against him.
Wajahat Khan, reportedly the co-founder of the Rashidi Foundation in Kolkata, is the complainant behind the case that led to Panoli’s arrest. The complaint, registered on June 2 and addressed to the Officer-in-Charge of Garden Reach Police Station, seeks action against Khan under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita—196(1)(a), 299, 352, and 353(1)(c)—as well as Sections 66A and 67 of the Information Technology Act. According to the complaint, Khan made “malicious and inflammatory posts” on social media that were “intentionally directed toward the Hindu community, its sacred beliefs, and revered deities.”
Sharshmita Panoli was arrested from Gurugram after a team of Kolkata Police arrived at her residence, acting on a complaint filed by Wajahat Khan on May 15 at the Garden Reach Police Station in Kolkata. The complaint alleged that a video posted by Panoli contained derogatory remarks with communal undertones, capable of inciting unrest. In the video, Panoli is seen criticizing and making defamatory comments against Muslim Bollywood actors for their silence on “Operation Sindoor.”
The video received widespread backlash due to its strongly abusive communal language. Following the criticism, Panoli removed the video and issued an apology after receiving death threats and abusive comments. Despite this, the police proceeded with her arrest, and she is now in judicial custody for 14 days. Upon her arrest, Kolkata Police issued a statement declaring, “Hate speech and abusive language should not be misconstrued as freedom of speech and expression.”
The arrest of Sharshmita Panoli has sparked a backlash from BJP members and right-wing activists, who now allege that Wajahat Khan—the complainant in Panoli’s case—has himself shared malicious and abusive content on social media. According to these allegations, Khan made derogatory remarks against Hindus, referring to them as “rapists” and “urine drinkers” in his posts. Screenshots of the alleged posts have circulated widely across social media platforms.
The X (formerly Twitter) handle cited in the complaint by the Shree Ram Swabhiman Parishad group, believed to be Khan’s, is currently locked, and his Facebook account appears to have been taken down.
Khan’s father told the media that Wajahat has been missing since the previous night and that his phone has been switched off. He defended his son, claiming Khan is a secular individual and suggested the posts could be the result of a hacked account, firmly denying that his son incited hatred against any religion.
In addition to the complaint filed in Kolkata, separate cases have been registered against Wajahat Khan in Assam and Delhi. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that a police team would be dispatched to West Bengal to coordinate further legal action against Khan.
