TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday, 22 July 2026 publicly called for the identification and legal accountability of Sonia Shehrawat, named as an assistant commandant with the Rapid Action Force (RAF), after an Instagram profile attributed to her allegedly described child protesters as 'cockroaches.' Moitra shared images of the profile and demanded that the officer be named, shamed, and prosecuted.

Context

Moitra's post stated: 'RAF assistant commandant Sonia Shehrawat's insta profile calling our children protestors cockroaches. Let's find out who she is, where she lives, what's her record? Let's name and shame and drag each of these zealots through the law.' The post was accompanied by two images, which Moitra presented as screenshots of the Instagram profile in question.

The use of dehumanising language against protesters — particularly those described as children — has drawn sharp political reactions. Moitra framed the alleged post not as an isolated incident but as part of a pattern of conduct by security personnel that she argued must face legal consequences.

Policy Backdrop

The Rapid Action Force is a specialised wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), deployed for riot control, crowd management, and internal security operations across India. Personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are bound by conduct rules that restrict public commentary on political matters and prohibit actions that could bring the force into disrepute.

Questions around the social media conduct of CAPF personnel have surfaced periodically. As far back as 2019–2020, opposition members raised parliamentary questions on the behaviour of CRPF and RAF personnel during the anti-CAA protests, signalling a recurring fault line between the central government and opposition parties over protest policing.

Stakeholders and Impact

The episode directly implicates two sets of stakeholders: protesters and their families, who have objected to what they see as institutional contempt, and paramilitary personnel, whose off-duty social media activity is now under scrutiny. For the Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees the CRPF and its specialised units, the post raises questions about whether existing social media guidelines for CAPFs are being enforced.

Opposition figures, including Moitra, have consistently argued that individual accountability within security forces is necessary to deter inflammatory conduct. The call to 'drag each of these zealots through the law' signals an intent to pursue formal complaints rather than limit the response to public criticism.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to whether the Ministry of Home Affairs or CRPF leadership orders an internal inquiry into the alleged Instagram post and the officer's conduct. Any formal complaint filed by Moitra or other parliamentarians could compel an official response. The episode may also renew legislative debate on mandatory social media guidelines for central paramilitary forces, a proposal that has been discussed but not codified in a uniform policy.

The broader pattern — opposition MPs identifying individual security personnel over alleged inflammatory conduct — suggests this incident is unlikely to remain confined to social media and may escalate into a parliamentary or legal arena in the days ahead.