Two days after the Union Territory saw its worst unrest in decades as a demonstration seeking statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards descended into violence, the Ladakh Police arrested activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday.
According to sources who spoke to news agency PTI, Wangchuk was arrested at 2:30 pm by Ladakh DGP S D Singh Jamwal's police party.The accusations made against Wangchuk were not immediately clear.
Due to suspected infractions, the Union Home Ministry revoked his NGO's licence under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 on Thursday.
With allusions to the GenZ uprising in Nepal and Arab Spring style rallies, the MHA blamed Wangchuk's "provocative" statements for Wednesday's mob violence and burning in Ladakh.
However, Wangchuk said that the government was assembling evidence to imprison him.
The alleged infractions include failing to deposit foreign funds received in the appropriate FCRA account, diverting funds for activities that are prohibited, such as researching the nation's sovereignty, and depositing locally generated monies in SECMOL's FCRA account.
According to sources, Sonam Wangchuk's Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL) received more than Rs 1.5 crore in foreign donations without being registered with the FCRA.
It is suspected that Rs 6.5 crore was transferred to Wangchuk's own company, Sheshyon Innovation.
According to sources, Wangchuk received Rs 1.68 crore in foreign monies in various accounts between 2018 and 2024 and moved Rs 2.3 crore overseas from his personal account between 2021 and 2024.
He also has nine personal bank accounts, eight of which are unreported.
According to an official, SECMOL has nine accounts, six of which are unreported, and HIAL has seven accounts, four of which are still unreported.
Two of Sheshyon's three accounts are unreported. The official claimed that despite his criticism of PSUs and other business entities, Wangchuk has been receiving substantial CSR funding from them.
While the income tax authorities investigate other financial anomalies, the CBI is currently investigating the alleged infractions at the home ministry's request.
