The Hindu : Front Page : Heavy security for Olympic torch relay

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Thursday, Apr 17, 2008
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Heavy security for Olympic torch relay

Staff Reporter

Tibetan protesters arrested in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Capital was on edge on the eve of the historic Olympic torch relay run with security and intelligence agencies leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the event passes off without any untoward incident on Thursday.

In view of inputs that Tibetan protesters might try to disrupt the torch relay, heavy security arrangements have been made at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here with deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force and Delhi Police personnel. The torch is expected to arrive at the airport from Pakistan around 1 a.m. on Thursday.

The level of secrecy maintained in the whole affair can be gauged from the fact that knowledge about the exit through which the torch-carrying contingent will be whisked out from the airport has been guarded even from the security forces. “All options have been kept open,” said an airport official.

While about 175 companies have been allocated for security arrangement across the Capital, commandos from the Indo-Tibet Border Police and the National Security Guard will be deployed at the venue. There will be a three-tier security cover at the venue with the Chinese commandos forming the innermost ring, followed by commandos of the elite NSG. The Delhi police personnel will be in charge of peripheral security.

All government offices falling on the relay venue — from Vijay Chowk to India Gate — will remain closed between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Thursday. Traffic restrictions around the venue would be effective from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., whereas some places around India Gate would be out of bounds to the general public from Wednesday night.

Although school children will not take part in the relay run, they would line up along the relay route to cheer for the runners.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police have received intelligence inputs that five militants belonging to East Turkestan Independence Movement have sneaked into the Capital to create disturbances during the relay run. However, the Special Cell has not yet come across any evidence establishing their presence.

Tibetans’ parallel relay

To register their protest, Tibetan activists have planned a parallel torch relay from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar. The organisers are expecting the participation of nearly 5,000 people in the relay, including National Democratic Alliance leader George Fernandes and author Arundhati Roy.

The Bharatiya Janata Party workers led by Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan will also take out a march from Shahidi Park near ITO to India Gate around 11 a.m. in “support of the demands of Tibetans for autonomy.”

Earlier on Wednesday, about 60 Tibetan activists shouting anti-China slogans protested near the Chinese Embassy in the high security Chanakyapuri area. They were intercepted by the police when they tried to break the security cordon around the premises.

Forty-seven of them were arrested under preventive sections. Among them were 16 women. They were produced in a city court that sent them to judicial custody.

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