Sonam Wangchuk in Jodhpur Jail, Links with Pakistani PIO and FCRA Violations Under Probe

Activist Sonam Wangchuk was allegedly in connection with a Pakistani PIO, said Ladakh DGP Dr SD Singh Jamwal on Saturday, as he briefed about the September 24 violence. Wangchuk was arrested on Friday

and was subsequently lodged in Jodhpur jail, two days after protests demanding Ladakh's statehood and Sixth Schedule status left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union Territory."We also arrested a Pakistan PIO in the recent past who was in touch with him (Sonam Wangchuk) and reporting back across. We have a record of this. He had attended a Dawn event in Pakistan. He also visited Bangladesh. So, there is a big question mark on him...Investigation is being done..." DGP Jamwal said on Saturday during a press conference. "Sonam Wangchuk has had a history of instigating. He has referred to the Arab Spring, Nepal and Bangladesh. The investigation into his funding is going on for FCRA violation," he added. The official also accused Wangchuk of derailing the ongoing talks with the Centre.

"An unfortunate incident occurred on September 24. Four lives were lost, and a large number of civilians, police officers and paramilitary officers were injured. There were attempts to sabotage these ongoing processes (talks with the Centre)," he said. "This involved some so-called environmental activists; there is a question mark on their credibility as well. They tried to hijack the platform, and the prime name here is Sonam Wangchuk, who has earlier also delivered such statements and worked to derail the process," DGP Jamwal added.The BJP-led Centre has blamed the climate activist for inciting the recent violence in Leh. Ahead of his detention, Wangchuk had denied all the allegations. "To say it was instigated by me is to find a scapegoat rather than addressing the core of the problem and this will lead us nowhere," Wangchuk said on Thursday. The arrest came a day after the Union home ministry cancelled the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licence of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), an organisation founded by Wangchuk, citing alleged financial discrepancies and a fund transfer deemed to be against "national interest".