LEH, SEPTEMBER 28: The ongoing controversy surrounding the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) has deepened, with Ladakh’s Director General of Police (DGP) S.D. Singh Jamwal, alleging that the activist was in contact with a Pakistani Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and played a “central role” in provoking the violent protests that shook Leh earlier this week.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, DGP Jamwal claimed that investigators have gathered evidence linking Wangchuk to a Pakistani PIO who has already been detained and was allegedly relaying details of their communications across the border. “We have a record of the contact between the two. The PIO had also attended a ‘Dawn’ event in Pakistan and travelled to Bangladesh. These facts raise serious questions, and the matter is under thorough investigation,” he said.
According to the police, Wangchuk was “not merely a participant” in the agitation but was actively pursuing “his own agenda” and played a key role in instigating large-scale violence during the protests on September 24. The clashes, which erupted amid heightened tensions over Ladakh’s long-standing demands for statehood and constitutional safeguards, resulted in the deaths of four people, injuries to dozens of civilians and paramilitary personnel, and significant damage to public and private property in Leh.
The police chief also revealed that foreign nationals were among those injured in the violence. “On the first day, when the injured were shifted to hospitals, two to three people with bullet injuries were identified as Nepali nationals. After verification, three were confirmed as citizens of Nepal,” Jamwal said. He added that while investigations are ongoing, no punitive action will be taken against innocent foreign labourers working in the region.
Highlighting the scale and intensity of the unrest, Jamwal described the violence as “unprecedented,” involving heavy stone-pelting, arson, and direct assaults on police deployments. He credited the swift deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on September 24 with preventing a larger catastrophe. “Had the CRPF not been deployed in time, the entire Leh town could have been engulfed in flames,” he warned, underlining the severity of the situation.
Despite the volatile atmosphere, authorities expressed cautious optimism about restoring normalcy. As part of efforts to de-escalate tensions, the administration announced phased curfew relaxations, allowing movement between 1 pm and 3 pm in Leh’s Old City and from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm in the new areas.
Meanwhile, Wangchuk has been transferred to Jodhpur Jail in Rajasthan, a move the police described as being in the “larger public interest” to maintain peace and order in the region.