A Kolkata court on Monday extended the police custody of Wazahat Khan the man who filed a case against social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli by seven more days. Khan was produced before the Alipore court after his initial six-day custody ended. He will now remain in Kolkata Police custody until June 23.
The extension was granted after the Kolkata Police sought more time to continue their investigation. Representing the police, Public Prosecutor Sourin Ghoshal told the court that only one mobile phone had been recovered from Khan, while another mobile and a laptop, believed to hold key evidence, were still missing. “The controversial post was deleted but we have a screenshot. The investigation is ongoing, and the roots are very deep. We need to interrogate him further,” said Ghoshal.
Khan’s legal counsel, Sankhajit Lal Mitra, opposed the extension and applied for bail, arguing that his client was willing to cooperate fully with the investigation. “We are praying for bail in any condition,” Mitra said.
Legal troubles
Adding to Khan’s legal troubles, the Haryana Police have also arrested him in connection with a separate case. Investigating Officer Sandeep Kumar appeared in the same court on Monday and filed an application for transit remand, requesting Khan’s custody be transferred from Kolkata Police to Haryana Police for further interrogation.
However, Khan’s lawyer strongly opposed the transit request. After hearing both sides, Judge Amit Sarkar, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Alipore court, rejected the transit remand plea and allowed Kolkata Police to retain custody for another week.
This development follows reports that the Assam Police had earlier taken similar action against Khan, indicating that he may be facing multiple complaints from different states.
Wazahat Khan was arrested by Kolkata Police earlier this month in connection with an alleged defamatory post involving influencer Sharmistha Panoli. While the exact content of the post remains under investigation, authorities confirmed that a screenshot had been preserved despite the original post being deleted.
With more electronic evidence yet to be recovered and multiple state police forces involved, the case appears to be growing in complexity.
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