Guwahati: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against Arunachal Pradesh-based lawyer and environmental activist Bhanu Tatak for allegedly receiving foreign funds in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Tatak is a legal adviser to the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) and coordinator of civil society organisation Dibang Resistance. She and the two organisations have been involved in protests against major hydropower projects proposed in Arunachal Pradesh.

SIFF has been opposing the proposed 12,500-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) on the Siang river, while Dibang Resistance has been protesting against a proposed 2,880-megawatt hydropower project on the Dibang river.

According to the CBI’s first information report (FIR), Tatak allegedly received more than Rs 17.6 lakh rupees from “different foreign organisations and individuals” directly into her personal savings bank account without obtaining mandatory registration under the FCRA.

The agency alleged that the funds came from foreign entities including the Philippines-based Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy and Indigenous Peoples Rights International, Ireland-based Front Line and the United Kingdom-based Human Rights Resource Centre.

The CBI also alleged that Tatak had never filed income tax returns and that the foreign funds she allegedly received were not reflected in official records.

The agency further alleged that the funds were being used to “organise and sustain anti-dam protests” in Arunachal Pradesh, which it claimed was adversely affecting the country’s economic and strategic interests.

The Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum has routinely maintained that the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project poses an existential threat to the indigenous Adi community.

In September 2025, Tatak was stopped by immigration authorities from boarding a flight to Ireland at Delhi airport based on a lookout circular issued against her by the Arunachal Pradesh Police.

Tatak was scheduled to attend a three-month academic programme at Dublin City University. At the time, she described the travel restriction as an “arbitrary abuse of administrative power” that she claimed was increasingly being normalised in India under pressure from corporate interests.

She had also said on social media that such actions riskes undermining the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.