Wangdu went on to work with a British NGO on social development issues, and he subsequently became a health worker in Lhasa, working on the "HIV Prevention in Lhasa Project" which commenced in 2001 with AusAID and Burnet Institute funding. The project provides HIV/AIDS education for vulnerable groups such as prostitutes working in bars and brothels, and also in schools. When the 2008 demonstrations in Lhasa broke out, Wangdu did not participate in them. However, it is believed that he sent messages to contacts outside Tibet about the protests and that this resulted in his arrest. He was arrested by officials of the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau at his home in Lhasa on the 14th of March, and was held incommunicado until his trial seven months later.