Activist Sonam Wangchuk arrested by Leh police amid statehood protest

The Home Ministry has alleged that the Ladakh climate activist was responsible for inciting the unrest that claimed four lives and left over 90 injured

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested in Leh on Friday, two days after violent protests demanding statehood and application of the Sixth Schedule broke out in the Union Territory, PTI reported, citing police officials.  As a precaution, the administration also suspended mobile internet services in the Leh region, the report added. 

According to the Hindustan Times, he was scheduled to hold a press conference at 2.30 p.m. but was arrested before he could do so. The charges against him are not clear yet.

 

The Home Ministry has alleged that Wangchuk was responsible for inciting the unrest that claimed four lives and left over 90 injured, according to PTI. The ministry said the Leh Apex Body (LAB), of which Wangchuk is a senior member, along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), has been leading the agitation for statehood for more than five years. Wangchuk, who had been observing a hunger strike in support of the movement, denied the allegations and condemned the violence, according to PTI. Following the unrest on Wednesday, he also called off his two-week-long fast.

 

The development comes a day after the home ministry revoked the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licence of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (Secmol), the organisation founded by Wangchuk. It said that the decision was taken after detecting multiple discrepancies in Secmol’s accounts, including a fund transfer from Sweden, which was deemed against the “national interest”.