Indian police arrest activist Wangchuk after deadly Ladakh protests

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SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) -Indian police arrested Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday, two days after New Delhi blamed him for violent protests demanding statehood 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.

Wangchuk had earlier denied the allegations against him, and said the violent protests were a reflection of frustration with the federal government.

The Buddhist-Muslim enclave of Ladakh lost its regional autonomy in 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government carved it out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and brought it under the direct administration of New Delhi.

Protesters are also demanding job quotas for local people and special status for the region, which would enable the creation of elected local bodies to protect its tribal areas.

The federal government and Ladakh’s leaders have been in talks over the demands since 2023, and are scheduled to meet again on October 6.

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Kevin Liffey)