{"id":2943,"date":"2026-10-26T09:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/26\/three-anti-sump-activists-arrested-pasighat-violence\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T09:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:32:12","slug":"three-anti-sump-activists-arrested-pasighat-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/26\/three-anti-sump-activists-arrested-pasighat-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Three anti\u2011SUMP activists arrested after violent Pasighat unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pasighat police announced the arrest of three leading figures in the anti\u2011Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) movement on 25\u202fOctober. The individuals taken into custody are human\u2011rights lawyer and anti\u2011dam campaigner Ebo\u202fMili, along with youth activists Otul\u202fJerang and Tajong\u202fTalom. Their detention follows a sudden surge of mob violence that rocked the township from Friday night into Saturday, prompting authorities to invoke multiple criminal provisions.<\/p>\n<h2>Arrests and legal charges<\/h2>\n<p>According to the arrest memo, Mili and Jerang voluntarily presented themselves at the Pasighat police station, signalling a willingness to cooperate with investigators. Talom, by contrast, was intercepted by law\u2011enforcement officers in Assam while traveling toward Delhi, where he reportedly intended to brief national media on the contested dam project. All three have been booked under Section\u202f48 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The case is recorded as Pasighat Police Station Case No\u202f114\/2026 and includes several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) as well as provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act.<\/p>\n<h2>Escalation of unrest in Pasighat<\/h2>\n<p>The arrests came on the heels of a chaotic episode of stone\u2011pelting, arson and widespread vandalism that began on Friday night. Protestors set fire to the office of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), torched multiple police vehicles and caused damage to the premises of the Pasighat police station itself. The disturbance extended beyond government buildings, reaching the private residences of several political figures. The homes of state BJP president Kaling\u202fMoyong, Pasighat West MLA Ninong\u202fEring and Mariyang\u2011Geku MLA Oni\u202fPanyang were ransacked, underscoring the breadth of the unrest.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities described the episode as a \u201cmassive escalation of unrest\u201d linked to the ongoing agitation against the proposed 11,200\u2011megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, a hydro\u2011electric scheme that has been the focal point of indigenous rights and environmental concerns in the region.<\/p>\n<h2>Activists distance themselves from the violence<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the intensity of the Friday\u2011Saturday violence, the three detained leaders have publicly disavowed any involvement. In a social\u2011media statement, Ebo\u202fMili asserted that the public demonstration had remained peaceful until police forces employed stun grenades and tear\u2011gas shells, actions he characterized as \u201cunprovoked\u201d and responsible for triggering panic among the crowd. \u201cWe are not part of this violence and do not support any kind of violence,\u201d Mili wrote, condemning the subsequent destruction of both public and private property and urging protesters to adhere strictly to non\u2011violent principles.<\/p>\n<p>Otul\u202fJerang echoed a similar narrative, insisting that the core group of protesting youths had no role in the midnight acts of arson and vandalism. He suggested that \u201coutside elements\u201d had exploited the situation, separating the activist core from the overnight destruction.<\/p>\n<p>Tajong\u202fTalom, who resigned from the Adi Students\u2019 Union (AdiSU) shortly before his detention, cited intense personal pressure and targeted harassment of his family as reasons for stepping down. He emphasized that his resignation was driven by the need to protect his relatives amid a climate of intimidation linked to his opposition to the mega\u2011dam project.<\/p>\n<h2>Legal and political context<\/h2>\n<p>The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, slated to generate 11,200\u202fMW of electricity, has been the subject of prolonged protest by indigenous groups and environmental advocates who argue that the dam threatens local ecosystems and the rights of tribal communities. The movement, which has traditionally emphasized peaceful civil disobedience, has faced increasing scrutiny from state authorities as demonstrations have grown in scale.<\/p>\n<p>By invoking the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Pasighat police have framed the arrests within a broader legal strategy aimed at curbing what they describe as \u201cdisruptive\u201d activities. The inclusion of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act further underscores the government\u2019s focus on the material damage inflicted during the unrest.<\/p>\n<h2>Implications for the anti\u2011dam campaign<\/h2>\n<p>The detention of Mili, Jerang and Talom may have significant repercussions for the anti\u2011SUMP campaign. All three have been prominent voices advocating for indigenous rights and environmental protection in Arunachal Pradesh. Their removal from the front lines could dampen momentum, especially as the movement seeks to maintain a strictly non\u2011violent stance in the face of heightened police action.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the activists\u2019 statements reaffirm a commitment to peaceful protest, suggesting that the broader movement may continue to operate through other channels. The arrests also highlight the delicate balance between state security concerns and the constitutional right to protest, a tension that is likely to shape future discourse around the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project.<\/p>\n<p>As the legal process unfolds, the Pasighat police have indicated that further investigations will determine the extent of involvement by other individuals or groups in the Friday\u2011Saturday violence. Meanwhile, the anti\u2011dam activists and their supporters remain poised to challenge the charges, emphasizing that the core of their campaign remains rooted in non\u2011violent resistance and the protection of indigenous lands.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Police in Pasighat detained human\u2011rights lawyer Ebo Mili and youth leaders Otul Jerang and Tajong Talom after mob violence linked to protests against the 11,200\u2011MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[3285,3199,1680,3284,3262],"class_list":["post-2943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anti-dam-activism","tag-arunachal-pradesh","tag-human-rights","tag-pasighat-unrest","tag-siang-upper-multipurpose-project","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}