(TibetanReview.net, Apr16, 2015) – A Tibetan man who had on Jan 28 led a protest against illegal seizure of village land five years ago by officials of Thangkor town in Dzoege (Chinese: Ruo’ergai) County of Ngaba (Aba) Prefecture, Sichuan Province, has disappeared after being paid a visit by local officials, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) Apr 14. However, a county official named Tashi has denied that the man, 39-year-old Jigje Kyab (also known as Jigme Kyab), had been detained, raising serious concerns about his well being and fate.
Residents in the town’s Karuma Village were reported to believe that local authorities took the action in retaliation against him for having led fellow-villagers to take up the land-grab issue with the provincial level authorities. Jigje is also said to be the custodian of the document showing the land as belonging to Tibetan villagers.
Earlier, following the Jan 28 protest, which took place in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, the authorities seized and took back to Thangkor all the 20 Tibetans involved. However, while most of them were released soon, Jigme and another man, named as Tsepak, were detained for a long time before being finally released.