Two 'spies' held before Dalai Lama visit

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Two 'spies' held before Dalai Lama visit

Bodhgaya, Jan 7

 

A Tibetan security guard and a Chinese woman were detained here by

police on suspicion of spying, hours before Tibetan spiritual leader

the Dalai Lama was due to arrive, police said Tuesday.

 

But the two were later released after the pair insisted they were a

couple.

 

"A Tibetan security man of the Karmapa named Zigme Gyatso was found

in mysterious circumstances with a young Chinese girl Chen Yuan Hann

in a guest house," a district official said in Bodhgaya in the

eastern state of Bihar.

 

The man could not explain his presence with the Chinese woman and

both were taken into custody, police said.

 

But they insisted they were a couple and the woman's passport was

found to be genuine.

 

Police released them, but the Indian authorities are keeping a close

watch on the woman, police said.

 

The Dalai Lama will arrive in Bodhgaya later Tuesday for the Tibetan

festival Kalchakra Puja which begins on Saturday. Four Chinese men

were arrested for spying when the Dalai Lama visited Bodhgaya last

year, officials said.

 

Huge security cover has been provided to the Nobel Laureate, who will

inaugurate the 10-day festival in the Buddhist holy city.

 

Authorities have said they have received death threats against the

Dalai Lama from Chinese militant organisations identified as Sugden

and Norge, which have links with Nepal's Maoist rebels.

 

The Dalai Lama is also facing protests from local Buddhists, who

accuse him of being anti-Indian and have threatened acts of violence

during the visit.

 

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after an abortive uprising in 1959 and

established the government-in-exile in India.

 

China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951, has been accused of trying

to wipe out its Buddhist-based culture through political and

religious repression and a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration.