Bhanu Tatak has spent years fighting to protect Arunachal’s rivers. Now, the Central Bureau of Investigation has come knocking — and the charges couldn’t be more loaded.
It isn’t every day that an environmental activist ends up in the CBI’s crosshairs. But for Bhanu Tatak — lawyer, activist, and one of the most vocal voices against mega dam projects in Arunachal Pradesh — that day arrived with an FIR, a string of foreign names, and allegations that cut right to the heart of how India views dissent in its frontier states.
The CBI has registered a case against Tatak for allegedly receiving foreign funds in violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA. On paper, it’s a financial irregularity case. But given who she is and what she’s been fighting for, many are already reading between the lines.
Tatak, who is associated with the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum and coordinates the civil society group Dibang Resistance, has been actively opposing major hydropower projects proposed in Arunachal Pradesh. These aren’t small local squabbles — we’re talking about projects like the 12,500-MW Siang Multipurpose Project and the 2,880-MW Dibang hydropower project, both of which have enormous consequences for the indigenous communities and ecosystems of the region.
The CBI’s FIR, filed on August 20, lays out a specific financial trail. According to the FIR, between 2022 and 2025, Rs 20.94 lakh was allegedly credited to her State Bank of India account in Roing through foreign exchange transactions. The agency says she received these funds without the mandatory FCRA registration or prior government permission — essentially, that money from abroad landed in her personal account without the legal paperwork in place.
The named sources include the Philippines-based Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy, Indigenous Peoples Rights International, Ireland-based Front Line, and the UK-based Human Rights Resource Centre. These are international human rights and indigenous peoples’ organisations — not exactly shadowy outfits, but their presence in an Indian FIR is enough to raise eyebrows on both sides of the debate.
The CBI’s narrative doesn’t stop at paperwork violations. The agency alleged that the foreign funds were used to organise and sustain anti-dam protests against the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project and Dibang Multipurpose Hydropower Project, claiming such activities were affecting the country’s economic and strategic interests. That framing — activism as a threat to national interest — is one that civil society groups across India have been pushing back against for years now.
The CBI also alleged that Tatak had not filed income tax returns between 2017-18 and 2025-26 and had not declared the alleged foreign receipts in official records.
Tatak, for her part, isn’t backing down. “I am a law-abiding citizen and have committed no violation of the law,” she said, adding that she is cooperating with the investigation. She pointed out that she received the Bhagirath Prayas Samman Award 2023 for her work in river conservation, alongside educational and research scholarships.
This isn’t Tatak’s first brush with state machinery either. In September 2025, immigration authorities stopped her from boarding a flight to Ireland at Delhi airport following a lookout circular issued by Arunachal Pradesh Police — she was heading to attend a three-month academic programme at Dublin City University. She subsequently joined the Indian National Congress in Itanagar on December 2, 2025.
The allegations in the FIR are yet to be established and the investigation is continuing.
Whatever the courts ultimately decide, one thing is hard to ignore: Bhanu Tatak chose to stand between a river and a dam. And in doing so, she put herself squarely in the way of something far more powerful than floodwaters.
