Who is Smruti Panchal, the woman held for making comments on Maharashtra Dy CM’s wife Amruta Fadnavis?

On whose complaint was an FIR registered?

The police registered an FIR based on the complaint by Pallavi Sapre, president of the BJP Yuvti Morcha. Sapre, stated in her complaint that while she was going through her social media account on September 7 she came across a comment made by a Facebook user named ‘Ganesh Kapoor’ under a post by Amruta Fadnavis that had photographs related to a function.

The comment, apart from being abusive, said things like those who were creating trouble for her family will pay for it. Sapre then approached the cyber police which registered an FIR. Based on their investigation it came to light that the Facebook account of ‘Ganesh Kapoor’ was indeed fake and was actually created by a Thane resident Smruti Panchal.

Who is Smruti Panchal ?

Panchal has in the past too faced consequences for her social media activity. In 2021, her Facebook account had been suspended for some alleged derogatory comments she uploaded on social media. Later she started creating fake Facebook accounts.

The police have found that she had created 53 different Facebook profiles and 12 email accounts. The police suspect she created the accounts for uploading comments on social media.

Why did she target Amruta Fadnavis?

Sources said that Panchal’s family had invested around Rs 1 crore in a property which is stuck in dispute. After she saw the photograph of the developer posing with Amruta and Devendra Fadnavis she was allegedly infuriated and posted the comments. A source said that she was suffering from some health issues and necessary paperwork was produced before court for the same.

What are the other similar cases in Maharashtra?

Earlier, Marathi actress Ketaki Chitale was arrested over her alleged derogatory comments against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. At one point there were over 20 FIRs registered against her and she spent 40 days in jail before being granted bail in June this year.