SRINAGAR: A significant crowd gathered outside the district jail in Leh on Saturday to welcome the release of former Congress councillor Smanla Dorje Nurboo (36) and former Congress J&K MLA Deldan Namgail (47) after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted them bail. The two were arrested following a violent protest in Leh on September 24 that resulted in the deaths of four individuals and injuries to about 80 others due to police firing during demonstrations advocating for statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh.
Namgail was apprehended on September 26, 2025, while Nurboo was taken into custody the next day. The police accused both of instigating the violence, though they denied these allegations. With their release, all individuals arrested during the September 24 incident have now been granted bail.
According to police, 38 police personnel and 57 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) members sustained injuries during the unrest. The Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), two prominent political and religious organizations, had been advocating for the release of Nurboo and Namgail. LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjee expressed relief at their release, remarking that the two had been unfairly imprisoned for an extended period.
The High Court, in its decision, referenced a Supreme Court ruling emphasizing that the power to grant bail should be executed with compassion. “Heinousness of crime by itself cannot be the ground to outrightly deny the benefit of bail if there are other overwhelming circumstances justifying the grant of bail,” the court stated, adding that concerns from the state could be addressed through reasonable conditions.
The court required each accused to provide bonds of Rs 1 lakh to the satisfaction of the trial court and jail superintendent. Conditions of the bail included cooperation with the investigation, attendance at trial proceedings unless exempted, refraining from influencing witnesses, not committing further offenses, and not leaving India without prior permission from the trial court and investigating officer.
In his bail application, Nurboo claimed he was attending to people at a hospital who had fallen ill while on a hunger strike on September 24, thus not being present at the location of the violence. Environmentalist and LAB member Sonam Wangchuk had initiated the hunger-strike call to urge the Centre to grant Ladakh Sixth Schedule status, which was subsequently called off following the September 24 violence.
Namgail’s application emphasized that residents had been advocating peacefully within the framework of the Constitution and asserted that the demands were patriotic. However, he contended that he was wrongfully implicated in the violence, affirming his commitment to non-violence.
The state opposed the bail, alleging that both men are influential political figures who could misuse their positions. The prosecution claimed that Nurboo and Namgail were active participants in the violence and played key roles in the events that transpired.
Ladakh became a Union Territory on October 31, 2019, following the reorganization of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. The region consists of the predominantly Muslim Kargil and Buddhist-majority Leh districts, both of which are governed by elected autonomous councils. Governance overall remains under the purview of the Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Centre, lacking a legislative assembly, a situation that has fueled demands for full statehood and constitutional protections under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
