Arunachal anti-dam protest: NHPC office and police station reported torched after Siang bandh, 69 arrested

Updated October 30. As of the evening of October 29, police have reported 69 arrests across the three Siang districts (Scroll.in), about 30 companies of central forces are deployed in the Siang belt (The Times of India), and no report we read mentions a death. The Chief Minister, a state minister and two community forums have held or offered talks (The New Indian Express, India Today NE, The Times of India), but protest groups say they will not talk until detainees are freed and forces withdrawn (India Today NE), and the state government says the pre-feasibility report should go ahead (The Times of India). The first version of this piece said a police station was torched as fact; police and PTI say so, but a government official told Scroll.in the buildings were not entirely burnt (Scroll.in).

A 12-hour bandh called by organisations opposing the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project ended in a confrontation with police at Dite-Dime near Geku in Siang district on 23 October, where tear gas was fired and four to five women were taken to hospital (The Sentinel, EastMojo, NorthEast Now, Hindustan Times). Later that night, after the shutdown had ended, crowds in Pasighat in East Siang district set fire to a National Hydroelectric Power Corporation office and police vehicles, and vandalised the residences of political leaders; police and PTI say a police station was torched too, while a government official told Scroll.in the station and office buildings were not entirely burnt down (Pratidin Time, The Economic Times, The Free Press Journal, Scroll.in).

What every report agrees on

Every report places the trigger in the 12-hour bandh called against the hydropower project, whose capacity is variously given as 11,000 MW (EastMojo), 11,200 MW (The Sentinel, The Free Press Journal, Mint) and 12,500 MW (Scroll.in), and agrees that the clash at Dite-Dime began early on the morning of 23 October near the 65 Bridge (NorthEast Now, Hindustan Times). All accounts record that police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and that four or five women were hospitalised, some with breathing difficulties (The Sentinel, NorthEast Now, The Navhind Times). Reports of that night agree on arson at an NHPC office and police vehicles in Pasighat, injuries to security personnel from stone-pelting and damage to the homes of political leaders (Pratidin Time, The Economic Times, The Free Press Journal, Mint). On the police station, the Pasighat Deputy Superintendent of Police said it was set ablaze (ThePrint), while a Pasighat-based government official told Scroll.in the buildings housing the NHPC office and the police station were not entirely burnt down but vehicles in their premises were torched (Scroll.in), and The New Indian Express described vehicles parked on the police station premises being set on fire (The New Indian Express). Police say protesters tried to breach barricades and attack personnel (NorthEast Now, The Navhind Times), and the Centre sent two companies of the Rapid Action Force, around 250 personnel, to the state (India Today NE).

In Pasighat itself, East Siang Deputy Commissioner Jayanti Pertin said the bandh was peaceful there until 5 pm, that a group calling itself Gen Z then blocked the highway, and that the magistrate ordered tear gas after about two hours of persuasion, adding there was "no baton charge" (Hindustan Times). NorthEast Now's first report of the night said security forces used a lathicharge as well as tear gas (NorthEast Now). Advocate Ebo Mili said the protest had been peaceful until security personnel used a stun grenade and tear gas after nightfall (India Today NE); the Inspector General of Police said some protesters had been drinking and that police used only tear gas (The Times of India).

How the left-leaning press told it

Hindustan Times, Scroll.in and The New Indian Express: Tear gas, detentions and stone-pelting

Left-leaning outlets carried both readings. Hindustan Times, rated centre-left, headlined the tear-gas shelling and the injuries to women at Dite-Dime, noting that tensions escalated around 7 am where people had gathered in support of the shutdown (Hindustan Times). Scroll.in, rated centre-left, went further back, reporting on October 24 that four activists from Geku were picked up by police on 9 October and were then in preventive detention in Itanagar, and framing the state's response as detentions and militarisation (Scroll.in). The New Indian Express, also rated centre-left, led instead with protesters targeting security forces with stones, which it said prompted the tear gas, and reported four to five police and CRPF personnel injured (The New Indian Express).

How the right-leaning press told it

The Times of India, India Today and The Economic Times: Protest demands and later arson

Right-leaning outlets also carried a mix. The Times of India, rated centre-right, reported in the days before the clash on a peaceful rally by student organisations at Pegging-Bote in Riga demanding withdrawal of security forces, a halt to pre-feasibility report activities and the release of detained persons (The Times of India). India Today, rated centre-right, combined the detentions and the four injured women with the Chief Minister's appeal for dialogue (India Today). The Economic Times, rated centre-right, led with the Pasighat arson, citing the Deputy Superintendent of Police that the NHPC office and a police station were set alight around 11 pm, after the shutdown had ended (The Economic Times).

How the centre told it

Mint: Explainer on project and clashes

Mint, rated centre, ran an explainer setting out what the project is and what the protest is about, and reported official claims that at least 40 security personnel were injured in the Friday night clashes (Mint). It said police counted a torched police station, an NHPC office and nine police vehicles, and noted reports that protesters damaged and looted a political leader's residence (Mint).

The coverage of this story does not divide along left and right lines.

What the record shows

Police accounts give specific figures that differ between reports. For the bandh at Dite-Dime, the Navhind Times cited police saying 150 to 200 agitators tried to vandalise police vehicles and breach barricades (The Navhind Times), and The New Indian Express reported four to five police and CRPF personnel injured in stone-pelting (The New Indian Express). For Pasighat on Friday night, the Inspector General of Police, Central Range, Hibu Tamang said more than 40 police personnel were injured, among them a Deputy Superintendent of Police with a head injury who was evacuated to Dibrugarh (The Times of India); The Times of India itself reported at least nine police vehicles damaged (The Times of India). The Deputy Commissioner put the number of burnt police vehicles at seven and said eight protesters with minor injuries were treated (Hindustan Times). Counts of burnt police vehicles by outlet were:

• Two, in NorthEast Now's first report, which separately said at least seven vehicles were damaged near Ranaghat Bridge at Mebo (NorthEast Now).
• Seven, in Pratidin Time (Pratidin Time), The Sentinel (The Sentinel) and the Deputy Commissioner's account in Hindustan Times (Hindustan Times); Hindustan Times's own summary of official accounts said seven to eight (Hindustan Times).
• Nine, in Mint, citing police (Mint), and The Times of India, in its own account of the night (The Times of India).

Offices differ too. Hindustan Times, citing officials, listed the NHPC office, several government offices and one police station (Hindustan Times); a PTI report carried by ThePrint added that the Adi Bane Kebang office was ransacked (ThePrint). A senior NHPC official told The Indian Express one NHPC office was completely gutted, another partially damaged and a generator set destroyed (The Indian Express), and an NHPC official told ThePrint the Pasighat office was gutted completely (ThePrint). The Inspector General said NHPC officers and employees were safe and under CRPF protection (NorthEast Now). No report we read mentions a death; the injuries recorded are those above, a protester hit on the leg by a tear gas shell (The Times of India) and a cameraman hurt in the same way (NorthEast Now).

Siang Superintendent of Police Kamdam Sikhom said the bandh was otherwise observed peacefully (The Navhind Times). At a press briefing on Saturday, Inspector General of Police, Central Range, Hibu Tamang said a protest that ran beyond its permitted duration escalated into stone-pelting, arson, vandalism and looting, and officials warned of legal action, listing injuries to a Deputy Superintendent of Police and other personnel (Arunachal24). On the other side of the record, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee demanded an independent inquiry into the use of tear gas (The Navhind Times) and repeated the demand on October 26, together with a smaller RAF deployment and a pause in the survey (India Today NE); no inquiry had been reported as of October 29. The Chief Minister urged dialogue (India Today). The reports do not settle whether the force used at Dite-Dime or in Pasighat was proportionate.

What has happened since

Arrests and cases. Police figures grew over the week. On October 25 the Inspector General said at least 15 people had been arrested and six cases registered (NorthEast Now). On October 26 East Siang Superintendent of Police Pankaj Lamba said 26 people, including five juveniles, had been arrested, six more detained for questioning and eight cases registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (NorthEast Now, Hindustan Times). On October 27 the Inspector General told Scroll.in that 69 people had been arrested and four detained across Upper Siang, Siang and East Siang, in 55 cases, under the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Scroll.in), which Scroll.in had earlier described as a preventive detention law (Scroll.in). NorthEast Now, quoting the same officer, counted 53 cases and said notices were served on 201 people and five minors sent to a juvenile home (NorthEast Now). On October 29 The Hindu wrote that more than 30 people had been detained (The Hindu), and speakers at an Itanagar rally said 27 youths had been arrested (The Times of India); these counts do not reconcile.

Advocate Ebo Mili and youth leader Otul Jerang surrendered at Pasighat police station on Saturday, October 24, and both distanced themselves from the violence (India Today NE). Pratidin Time reported that they and Tajong Talom, who was reportedly detained in Assam, are booked in Pasighat Police Station Case No. 114/2026 (Pratidin Time). On October 26 NorthEast Now reported that Mili and Jerang had begun a hunger strike in custody (NorthEast Now); East Siang Superintendent of Police Lamba told The Times of India it could not be called a hunger strike (The Times of India). Police applied on October 27 for search warrants for the homes of Jerang, Talom, an advocate and a journalist; the court's decision was not reported (India Today NE, The Times of India). Of the people held before the bandh, Hindustan Times had reported 10 detained about 20 days earlier (Hindustan Times), and on October 27 the Upper Siang Deputy Commissioner said releases needed further approvals (The Times of India).

Orders and forces. The East Siang administration barred gatherings of more than five people, and the carrying of weapons including daos, in Pasighat, Mebo and Ruksin from 5 pm on October 24 under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (The Times of India, The Sentinel); the order was still in force on October 25 and 26 (The New Indian Express, The New Indian Express). No report we read mentions a curfew. On forces, The Times of India reported on October 26 that more than 2,500 central armed police and Assam Police personnel, in 30 companies including four of the RAF, were across the three districts (The Times of India); NorthEast Now the same day gave 34 companies, with two more RAF companies being airlifted from Navi Mumbai (NorthEast Now); on October 29 The Times of India gave 30 in one report and 33 in another (The Times of India, The Times of India). Opponents call the deployment suppression (The Times of India); the Chief Minister said it is there to protect residents, not to intimidate them (The Times of India).

Talks. On October 24 the Chief Minister condemned the violence, offered to meet organisations in Itanagar, Pasighat or elsewhere (The New Indian Express) and invited the Adi Bane Kebang youth wing and a youth association to talks (Asianet Newsable). On October 25 he met legislators and community-based organisations (The New Indian Express). On October 26 he said his government "will not force dams without the will of our people" (India Today NE) and that the pre-feasibility report should be prepared first (The Times of India); on October 29 he called the project a "defence mechanism project" still at the discussion stage (The Indian Express). Minister Ojing Tasing met a forum of representatives of 72 downstream villages on October 27 (India Today NE, NorthEast Now). The Upper Siang Deputy Commissioner said the administration would facilitate talks if villagers nominated representatives (The Times of India). On October 28 the Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum announced a peace committee and the Arunachal Christian Forum offered to mediate between the government and the Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum (The Times of India, NorthEast Now, The Sentinel). Opposing groups say talks with the Chief Minister cannot proceed until detained protesters are released and paramilitary forces withdrawn (India Today NE), and held a solidarity rally in Itanagar on October 29 (The Hindu).

NHPC and the survey. The reports we read carry no public statement from NHPC; its officials spoke without being named (The Indian Express, ThePrint). The survey has not been formally stopped. The state's line is that the pre-feasibility report must be completed before any decision to build (The Times of India). Police have fortified the Dite-Dime bridge, the gateway to four proposed drilling sites, and security has been strengthened at the sites (The Times of India, The Times of India). An NHPC official told ThePrint that only exploratory core drilling remains before the report can be submitted and that the team has made no headway on survey work since May 2025 (ThePrint). No report we read says drilling has begun. The Congress and the Itanagar rally speakers demand that the survey be suspended or cancelled (India Today NE, The Times of India).

Spread. On October 26 a bandh against the NHPC-developed Menga dam in Upper Subansiri district turned violent in Daporijo, where NHPC equipment, a company vehicle and two police vehicles were damaged and a constable-driver and a CRPF man were injured (India Today NE, The Times of India); a public hearing for that project was cancelled (The New Indian Express).

Drafted by the Alethman engine from 15 independent reports, and checked by an editor before publication. An outlet's side comes from published media-bias ratings (Media Bias/Fact Check, AllSides) or documented ownership, named under the coverage bar; Alethman does not rate outlets itself.