According to a well-placed source who spoke to Free Tibet, Jamyang Phuntsok was arrested on suspicion of distributing flyers in Ngaba town; the flyers had announced that four Tibetans were intending to set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule in Tibet on March 10, the highly sensitive 50th anniversary of the Tibetan national Uprising of 1959.

Chinese police arrested Jamyang Phuntsok, 35, from his room in Kirti Monastery days after an incident where a Tibetan monk named Tabey set himself ablaze. Chinese sate media reported that Jamyang Phuntsok had accepted allegations against him that he sent information about Tabey to the outside world to gain international attention to Tibet.
A source has said that he believes Jamyang’s arrest might be linked to Tabey’s self immolation.

Kirti monastery and the surrounding Ngaba county have witnessed constant repression and intense security since Chinese armed police fired into a crowd of unarmed protesters in Ngaba town on March 16 last year.