Demanding immediate release of their general secretary Suraj Lingu and convener Tarh Rekam, members and supporters of Students United Movement of All Arunachal (SUMAA) on Tuesday evening gheraoed the Central Jail at Jollang in Itanagar on Tuesday.
Also read: Prohibitory orders under 144 CrPC in West Kameng of Arunachal
The protestors gathered in large numbers, burnt tyres in front of the jail’s main gate and shouted slogans against the police and State Government.
As per reports, both Rekam and Lingu were detained by the Capital police under the ambit of Section 2 (XII) of the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (APPUA) Act, 2014.
The arrests were made with a view to prevent any possible law and order problems in the West Kameng district on the backdrop of SUMAA’s ‘Camp Bomdila’ on Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy (TRP) and its related issues.
The duo was detained by the police at around 3 am on Tuesday so that they could be produced before the Bomdila Court, but due to a road blockade, they were shifted to the Central Jail.
Rekam and Lingu have been charged under APPUA Act for causing mental torture, intimidating and harassing various shopkeepers of Bomdila during the Union’s protest rally against the TRP issue and granting of illegal ST certificates and PRCs to Tibetan refugees, reports said.
The SUMAA had earlier announced that it would initiate its third phase of democratic movement against the State Government from July 25 next over the TRP-2014 issue.
Besides the rollback of TRP, the other demands of the union include, the Tibetan committee to furnish the family tree cum records of all Tibetan refugees settled in Arunachal Pradesh and a clarification in written from the representatives of the Tibetan population that they would not ask for ‘citizenship’ in the future are some of the demands of the SUMAA.
Following the declaration, the West Kameng Deputy Commissioner (DC) cum District Magistrate (DM), Dr Sonal Swaroop has imposed a prohibitory order under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the district.