5,000 police to protect torchbearers
Indian police detained 27 Tibetan protesters and deployed 5,000 police officers ahead of Thursday’s New Delhi leg of the Olympic torch relay, hoping to avoid chaotic protests by Tibet supporters, police said.
Police held the Tibetans after they marched along the path the torch is scheduled to take, local police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.
Protesters lighted a torch and chanted “No Olympics in China!” and “Freedom for Tibet!” Bhagat said the detainees were not charged and probably would be freed soon.
Beijing is the site for the Summer Games. Protests against China’s human rights record have marred the torch’s passage through the West.
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