(TibetanReview.net, Jun26, 2016) – Without producing an arrest warrant or giving a reason, Chinese police have on Jun 24 morning taken away five Tibetans in an intimidating display of force at Trelnak Township in Chabcha (Chinese: Gonghe) County of Qinghai Province. The incident happened a day after eight local Tibetans were seriously injured after being beaten by Chinese police for protesting against an order to destroy their shops, guesthouses, and homes located on a scenic stretch of the Qinghai Lake.
Three truckloads of Chinese police accompanied by 20 vehicles packed with unidentified officials arrived at around 8:00 am and carried out the arrest, Radio Free Asia (Washington) Jun 24 cited an anonymous local source as saying.
The report named four of the five as Lhachen Kyab, Jigje Delek Gyatso, Rinchen Bum, and a woman named Tashi Drolma. All five were residents of the township’s Karla and Dose villages and had apparently been seen as leaders of the protest the day before.
The Jun 23 protest was carried out by hundreds of local Tibetans who had invested large sums of money in the businesses and homes the local authorities wanted to tear down, calling them illegal structures.