Octogenarian environmentalist arrested by Uttarakhand police

Environmentalist G.D. Agarwal, 80, who was forcibly admitted to AIIMs by the Uttarakhand government after his indefinite fast completed 50 days, has been whisked away from the hospital and is under arrest, his close aide said Monday.

The octogenarian environmentalist, who is a former IIT professor, had launched his indefinite fast against environmental degradation in Uttarakhand on June 13 on the banks of the Ganga river in Haridwar, said Rajendra Singh, Magsaysay awardee and well-known water conservationist.

"Agarwal had decided to go on fast to protest the destruction of the environment in Uttarakhand that led to the June 16 rain and landslide disaster in the state. He says till the government does not go into the reasons for the environmental disaster in the state, no new dam projects should be taken up,' Singh told IANS on phone.

According to the water conservationist, the Uttarakhand government on Aug 1 forcibly got Agarwal admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

"On Aug 8, the Uttarakhand police took him away from the hospital. They have slapped the section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) on him and kept him on police remand since then in a jail in Haridwar.. Is he a criminal that he should be kept on police remand, which is reserved for criminals," asked Singh.

The Uttarakhand rain-landslide calamity led to hundreds of deaths and thousands remain missing.

Singh also alleged that the octogenarian, who has gone on fasts earlier for conservation of river Ganga, is not allowed to meet people in Haridwar. "He is a true Gandhian, and the government is unduly harassing him," said Singh.

Uttarakhand Director General of Police Satyavrat told IANS that they had arrested the environmentalist and kept him in a government-run hospital in Haridwar.

"Yes, we have arrested him under various sections of law. No one can commit suicide in public," Satyavrat told IANS.

"He is undergoing treatment in a government hospital in Uttarakhand," he added.

Authorities at AIIMS said they were unaware of Agarwal's arrest.

"We discharged him three days ago. His condition was fine. I don't know about his being arrested by the police," said AIIMS Medical Superintendent D.K. Sharma.