Activist kept in isolation In Jodhpur jail, cops accuse him Of Pak linksSRINAGAR: Authorities in Ladakh allowed Saturday a four-hour curfew relaxation in Leh amid public outrage over the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and police defending the use of force that left four people dead and about 80 wounded during clashes on Sept 24.Magsaysay Award winner Wangchuk was held Friday under NSA and shifted to Jodhpur central jail in Rajasthan, a prison known for housing gangsters, terrorists, film stars, and convicts like Asaram. Sources said he has been placed in a separate cell, kept in complete isolation, and attended to directly by jail staff. Authorities refused to disclose reasons for his transfer to the high-security desert facility.Police accused Wangchuk of making “provocative” remarks during his Sept 9–24 hunger strike for Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh, and of derailing talks with govt. The curfew was clamped after violence during a shutdown called by Leh Apex Youth, part of the Leh Apex Body — an alliance of political and religious groups.Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) accused authorities of “shoot-on-sight” firing without warning and with intent to kill. Ladakh DGP SD Singh Jamwal countered: “Security forces fired in self-defence to stop the attack… CRPF deployment was not pre-planned. They helped save lives as some protesters tried to set security quarters on fire.” He rejected accusations of violating procedures, alleging around 6,000 protesters went on a rampage, damaging govt offices, torching a political party office, and setting the LAHDC building ablaze. He said 15 police and 17 CRPF personnel were also wounded.The DGP said 44 arrests were made, including Wangchuk, whom he accused of making statements referencing Nepal and Bangladesh, and recently traveling to Pakistan. He said Wangchuk’s foreign funding under FCRA is under scrutiny, with investigators probing links to a Pakistani “person of interest”.KDA rejected those claims and demanded a judicial probe. “The firing was carried out without any magistrate’s order or warning. Bullets were fired at people’s heads and chests. It seems govt intended to kill Ladakhis and we strongly condemn it,” said KDA co-chairman Asgar Ali Karbalai.He described Wangchuk as a “peace-loving Gandhian” and dismissed charges against him as “fiction writing”. He demanded his immediate release. “He never believed in violence. Any fabricated stories against Sonam Wangchuk will not be accepted,” Karbalai said, appealing to Union govt to meet Ladakh’s “legitimate and constitutional” demands.BJP functionary and LAHDC-Leh chairman Tashi Gyalson termed Sept 24 the “darkest day in the history of Ladakh” and said he has written to LG Kavinder Gupta seeking a full probe.Leh Bar Association also defended Wangchuk. “To brand him as anti-national would make India a laughing stock worldwide. People do not accept such allegations,” it said. Taking up the matter pro bono, the bar demanded answers on “why firing was ordered on people”.In Jodhpur, police tightened security outside the jail after detaining a man who turned up in support of Wangchuk. The jail holds Asaram, convicted of rape in 2018, and has earlier housed figures such as gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, ex-ministers Mahipal Maderna and Malkhan Singh Bishnoi in the Bhanwari Devi case, and actor Salman Khan, who served brief terms after blackbuck poaching convictions in 2006 and 2018. During the 1980s, it also held militants from Punjab and J&K for security reasons.(inputs from Ajay Parmar in Jodhpur)
