Harshali Potdar was arrested by Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg police station only to be released in a few hoursfor sharing a Facebook post. Before the police arrested her, Mumbai sessionscourt rejected her pre-arrest plea.
Charged on the allegations ofinciting communal hatred between communities, the police let her by citing thatshe was called only for questioning. In her Facebook post, Potdar hadcriticised the handling of Coronavirus by the government. However, the post waswritten by another political activist Mohsin Shaikh and shared by her.
Potdar is a part of the BhimaKoregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyan, under which Elgar Parishad was organisedwas earlier also booked for the violence erupted at Bhima Koregaon in January1, 2018. The case was taken over by National Investigation Agency but she isnot being arrested yet.
Potdar alleges that herdetention was illegal and she was picked up without any warning from a publicplace. According to a report published in The Wire, it has been mentioned that Maharashtrapolice had filed cases against many activists in 2020 who questioned theirhandling of the pandemic.