The Ladakh administration has released seven political activists, including Congress councillor Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag who was accused by the BJP of leading the violent protests that killed four civilians and left dozens injured last month.

The development has given fresh ammunition to the Opposition to target the BJP for allegedly running a disinformation campaign to discredit them.

Leh Bar Association president Mohd Shafi Lassu said the activists — who included Tsepag, the woman president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), the youth president of the Anjuman-e-Moin-ul-Islam and three Leh Apex Body (LAB) councillors — were released on the directions of the court.

Tsepag was among several activists who had surrendered before the police on September 28, four days after the violence. The police had registered an FIR naming him and several others for orchestrating the violence.

The Congress councillor was at the centre of the BJP and Right-wing campaign, which claimed the Congress instigated the violence.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya had uploaded a picture of a masked man wielding a stick and identified him as Tsebag.

Malviya claimed he “can be clearly seen instigating the mob and participating in violence that targeted the BJP office and the Hill Council”.

Tsepag and his party had denied the allegations and vowed to file a defamation case.

Sajad Kargili, leader of the Kargil Democratic Alliance, said the release of the activists “exposes the baseless propaganda and fake narratives spread by certain media outlets and political leaders”.