Police in Gansu province announced on Tuesday that they have apprehended seven people for their alleged roles in convincing a local Tibetan villager to self-immolate.

Police investigations show the self-immolation of Sangye Gyatso, a 26-year-old resident of Duohe village in the city of Hezuo, on Oct 6, 2012, was "masterminded by key members of the 'Tibetan Youth Congress' of the overseas Dalai clique", according to a statement.

Sangye Gyatso died in the self-immolation.

Police investigations also show that Sangye Gyatso had run-ins with the law in 2007 for theft.

Khyi Gyatso, 33, a village friend of Sangye Gyatso, had been a monk at the local Duohe Monastery before leaving China through illegal means to become a monk in an Indian monastery in 2000.

As a key member of the "Tibetan Youth Congress", Khyi Gyatso introduced Sangye Gyatso to ideas about "Tibetan independence" during his stay in China in 2011.

In January 2012, Khyi Gyatso and Gonpo Konchoghu, another member of the "Tibetan Youth Congress" as well as a former monk at Duohe Monastery, held a meeting in India with around 30 monks from Gansu's Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, who were then in India for a so-called religious session held by the Dalai clique. The monks included Kalzang Gyatso and Gonpo Je.

The meeting was about planning the self-immolations of Tibetans in China.

In April 2012, Gonpo Konchoghu illegally entered China and urged Sangye Gyatso to self-immolate, promising "to send the latter's picture overseas after his self-immolation and request that the Dalai Lama arrange a religious session for him."

After Sangye Gyatso set himself on fire, Tashi Gyatso and Gonpo Je, among others who were all there waiting, took photos of the self-immolation process and quickly sent them overseas.

That afternoon, Khyi Gyatso, who was then overseas, released the "news" about the self-immolation. Shortly thereafter, the Dalai clique launched a high-profile "propaganda" campaign on the well-orchestrated incident, claiming there was a "humanitarian crisis" in China and calling for the international community to interfere.

(China Daily 01/16/2013 page2)