Ladakhi innovator Sonam Wangchuk has claimed that he was placed under house arrest at his institute. This charge was denied by the police which said he was only prevented from observing a five-day-long fast at Khardung La top. The Ladakh-based innovator had announced a five-day long hunger strike at 18,380 feet high Khardung La from January 26. It is to invite attention of the BJP-led Centre to the demands of the people of Ladakh, including extension of the sixth schedule of the Constitution. Environmental protection from unchecked industrial and commercial expansion was also part of his demand. Almost all major political parties, social and religious groups and student organisations barring BJP, have come together in both Leh and Kargil districts in support of the demands. According to the police, Wangchuk has signed a bond and police were deployed as a precautionary measure as he did not cooperate with the police. However, Wangchuk said “he was under house arrest, actually worse than the house arrest at the institute where he had started the five-day fast coinciding the Republic Day.”