CBI Files Case Against Arunachal Pradesh Activist Bhanu Tatak Under Foreign Funding Law

The Wall of Harmony mural in Itanagar, commissioned to mark fifty years of Arunachal Pradesh, bore a simple intervention in March 2022: two words and a raised fist. “No more dams” appeared across its surface in black paint, and police arrested two men for the act. A third name surfaced in the record that day without an accompanying arrest. Four and a half years later, that name has become the subject of a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

On September 15, 2026, the agency registered a case against Bhanu Tatak, legal adviser to the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum and coordinator of the civil society group Dibang Resistance, for allegedly receiving more than ₹17.6 lakh from foreign organisations and individuals in contravention of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010. The FIR names Tatak and unknown persons under sections 111, 17, 19 and 35 of the Act. The Central Bureau of Investigation states it acted on a reference from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The agency alleges the funds supported protests against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project and the Dibang Multipurpose Project, and that in doing so, they “adversely affected the economic and strategic interests of the country.” That final assertion elevates what began as a question of financial compliance into one of national security.

The allegations

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 requires that anyone accepting foreign funds for defined activities obtain registration from the Ministry of Home Affairs or secure prior permission. Such funds must be received into a designated account rather than a personal one. The CBI alleges Tatak did neither.

According to the first information report, more than ₹17.6 lakh was received from foreign organisations and individuals directly into her personal savings account without the required registration or permission. A wider figure of ₹20.94 lakh is cited as having been credited through foreign exchange transactions into her State Bank of India account at the Roing branch between 2022 and 2025. The agency further alleges she filed no income tax returns between the assessment years 2017-18 and 2025-26, making no declaration of the receipts.

Four entities are named as sources: the Philippines-based Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy; Indigenous Peoples Rights International; Ireland-based Front Line Defenders; and the United Kingdom-based Human Rights Resource Centre. Three of these are human rights organisations whose declared purpose includes protection of activists, and whose established practice includes emergency grants and legal or travel support for individuals facing proceedings like those Tatak now faces. Indigenous Peoples Rights International is the same organisation that issued a public statement in her defence in September 2025.

The projects at the centre of the dispute

Bhanu Tatak is from the Dibang valley and lives in Roing, the headquarters of Lower Dibang Valley district. She belongs to the Adi community and works as a lawyer and artist. She has become the most visible figure in opposition to large dams across two river valleys that receive limited national attention.

Dibang Resistance, which she coordinates, emerged from opposition to the 2,880-megawatt Dibang Multipurpose Project, approved by the Union cabinet in 2019. If constructed, it would be the largest dam in India by installed capacity. By the time Tatak became prominent, however, that campaign had already weakened considerably. Compensation had been disbursed to affected families, and local opposition among the Idu-Mishmi had receded to social media activity and occasional press statements. A long-standing opponent of the Dibang project, interviewed in Roing in 2022, said active opposition on the ground had ceased altogether.

At the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum, where she serves as legal adviser, the organisation represents thousands of Adi families opposing the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. The forum contends that the project could submerge 27 villages and displace more than 1.5 lakh people, and notes that the site lies in seismic zone V. Unlike the Dibang campaign, this one remains active. NHPC has yet to complete its pre-feasibility survey, as villagers have prevented it from proceeding at Ugeng, Dite Dime and Parong.

In November 2023, Tatak and Dibang Resistance were jointly awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman at India Rivers Week in Pune, presented by ecologist Madhav Gadgil. The citation credited them with bringing together the communities of the Dibang basin to protect the ecosystems of the upper Brahmaputra.

A history of pressure

The first information report is not the first action taken against Bhanu Tatak, and reading it in isolation obscures the pattern.

In March 2022, the lawyer Ebo Mili and the Assam-based artist Nilim Mahanta were arrested for painting “No more dams” and a raised fist on the state secretariat wall in Itanagar, beneath a painted dam on the Wall of Harmony mural. Both were released on bail within two days and directed by a court to repaint the section, which they did. The state accused Tatak of inciting and commissioning them. All three denied the allegation, and she was not arrested at that time.

In May 2025, Central Armed Police Force personnel were deployed at Beging, Geku and Jengging, and at the district headquarters of Pasighat, Boleng and Yingkiong, to enable NHPC to conduct its pre-feasibility survey for the Siang project. Villagers responded with an indefinite sit-in protest, and international rights organisations issued statements of solidarity.

In August 2025, Tatak was summoned by the special investigation team of the crime branch to appear on August 30 in connection with a case registered at Boleng police station. By that point, multiple first information reports had been lodged against her in connection with the protests.

On September 7, 2025, she was prevented from boarding a flight to Dublin at Delhi airport, where she was to join a three-month programme at Dublin City University as a visiting specialist. Immigration officials cited a lookout circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Tatak stated that she had been given no written order and no hold-departure order, and that had she been informed in advance, she would have complied. Inspector General of Police Law and Order Chukhu Apa confirmed that the state police had requested the circular on the basis of several police complaints, in order to protect the investigation.

Tatak named Siang legislator and minister Ojing Tasing and Deputy Commissioner P.N. Thungon for filing what she described as false charges, arising from an alleged attack on Tasing. Indigenous Peoples Rights International described the episode as a dangerous escalation in a long-running effort to silence her. The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee described it as a misuse of government machinery to harass a young woman activist.

Later that month, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing Tatak, was initially refused an inner line permit to enter Arunachal Pradesh to meet his client. Police at the Assam border subsequently permitted him entry for twenty-four hours.