GUWAHATI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Bhanu Tatak, a lawyer and environmental activist from Arunachal Pradesh, over her alleged foreign funding to oppose ongoing hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh. CBI, in its FIR, mentioned that she received foreign funds without following the rules laid down under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA, in the past several years. The Government of India has sanctioned several hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh; some of them are in initial stages, and a few are in the last stage of construction. Several organisations of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have been opposing the construction of these dams, including the Lower Suvansiri Hydropower Project, for the last several years.
Who is Bhanu Tatak?
Bhanu Tatak is linked to the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum and also coordinates a civil society group called Dibang Resistance. Over the years, she has been at the forefront of protests opposing hydropower projects that local communities fear will affect their land, rivers and way of life. As per media reports, she is a member of the Congress party and heading the public grievances committee of APCC from November 2025. She is also associated with the South Asian Network on Dams.
Tatak found herself in the news once before, in September 2025, when she was stopped from boarding a flight to Ireland at the Delhi airport. Immigration officials acted on a lookout circular issued by the Arunachal Pradesh Police, and she could not travel for a three-month academic programme she was to attend at Dublin City University. A few months later, on December 2, 2025, she joined the Indian National Congress in Itanagar.
Why did the CBI book her?
The FIR filed by the CBI has levelled some serious allegations against the Congress leader. The FIR, which was filed on 20th August after a thorough investigation by the agency, mentioned that she has received multiple foreign funds directly in her personal account in SBI Bank. She doesn’t have mandatory FCRA registration to receive foreign funds, nor did she take prior permission, which is a complete violation of FCRA norms.
The agency claims that between 2022 and 2025, a total of Rs 20.94 lakh came into her State Bank of India account in Roing through foreign exchange transactions. The FIR names several overseas organisations as the alleged sources of this money. These include the Philippines-based Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy, Indigenous Peoples Rights International, Ireland’s Front Line, and the UK-based Human Rights Resource Centre.
The CBI has further alleged that these funds were used to organise and keep alive protests against two major projects: the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project and the Dibang Multipurpose Hydropower Project. The agency has claimed that such activities affected the country’s economic and strategic interests.
Adding to the allegations, the CBI said Tatak had not filed income tax returns from 2017-18 through 2025-26, and had not disclosed the foreign receipts in her official records.
The case did not come out of nowhere. It followed a preliminary enquiry that the CBI conducted on the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Tatak, along with groups she is associated with, has long opposed the 12,500-MW Siang Multipurpose Project planned on the Siang River, as well as the 2,880-MW Dibang hydropower project on the Dibang River. Both projects have faced resistance from local communities who were organised by her network about displacement and the impact on their traditional lands.
