SRINAGAR, India, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Indian police arrested Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday, two days after New Delhi blamed him for violent protests demanding statehood, opens new tab for the Himalayan federal territory in which four people died, and suspended mobile internet services in its main city of Leh.
Buildings and police vehicles were torched by angry crowds in Leh on Wednesday, as protesters moved away from a site where Wangchuk had been on hunger strike for 14 days. They clashed with police, who opened fire. Authorities said the police were acting in self-defence.
A police officer who did not want to be named said Wangchuk had been arrested ahead of a press conference that he was to address.
India’s interior ministry had earlier accused Wangchuk, who called off his fast after the violence, of inciting people through his “provocative statements”.
It had also cancelled a licence granted to his non-governmental organisation, the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, alleging violations.
A curfew has been in place in several parts of the territory since the clashes, in which dozens were injured, including police and security personnel.
Another official who also did not wish to be identified said mobile internet services had been suspended in Leh on Friday as a precaution.
