Leh, Sept. 26 -- Minutes after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested by Ladakh Police for his alleged role in Wednesday's violence, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) described the September 24 incident as a "spontaneous reaction" of agitated youth and admitted that senior leadership had failed to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
Addressing the media following Wangchuk's arrest, LAB co-chairman and former minister Cherring Dorjey conceded that the protests, which began at the venue of Wangchuk's ongoing hunger strike, quickly slipped out of the leadership's hands.
"Usually, not more than 500 people participated in the hunger strike. But on Wednesday, nearly 6,000 to 7,000 people turned up, most of them youth. Tempers flare...