Santosh Pandit
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone III) Sagar Kawade told TOI that Pandit had been charged under sections 75 (sexual harassment), 356 (defamation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act. A local court sent Pandit to police custody till Sept 8.
Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said people should avoid making objectionable statements and posting such videos on social media. “In the videos, Pandit was seen using lewd and abusive language against the minister and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) corporator,” a Kothrud police officer said. Opposition netas criticised the action, accusing govt of using police machinery to target a voice raising public issues. Police, however, maintained that the arrest was based on complaints and the content posted online. “We will take stringent action against such people. The police action came in the wake of a woman’s complaint. This was the second case registered against the influencer since Sunday. The Deccan Gymkhana police had registered a defamation case against him for allegedly using abusive language against the minister.
Pune: Police on Thursday arrested city-based social media influencer Santosh Pandit on charges of sexual harassment and defamation for allegedly posting videos containing obscene and abusive remarks against a Maharashtra minister and a PMC corporator. On Thursday, we took one influencer into custody,” Kumar said. The woman in her complaint claimed that she had noticed two videos posted by Pandit on a popular online video-sharing website on Wednesday.