The Alipore court on Tuesday remanded Wajahat Khan, whose complaint led to the arrest of law student Sharmistha Panoli, in police custody.

The court turned down Khan’s bail plea and granted police custody till June 16, four days less than what the cops had asked for.

“Officers from Haryana police were at the hearing with a remand. Assam police were also there to watch the proceedings. Our bail prayer was turned down,” said Khan’s lawyer, Sankhajit Lal Mitra.

Co-founder of Rashidi Foundation, 29-year-old Khan was arrested on Monday evening amid questions about why Kolkata Police could not trace him for nearly a week after the FIR was filed against him at Golf Green police station for alleged communal social media posts.

He was picked up from a third-floor apartment on KC Sen Street around 7pm on Monday.

Khan was booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between different groups), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 353(1)(c) (statements that incite public mischief).

Assam police registered a case against him on the same charges. A Haryana cop told the court they sought his
custody.

The public prosecutor told the court that Khan had deleted some of his posts, which they wanted to recover during his custody.

Khan’s complaint on May 15 had led to Panoli’s arrest in Gurgaon on May 31 for alleged communal remarks in a video on social media.