Indians breathe sigh of relief after torch relay

The much-awaited India leg of the Olympic torch run has ended peacefully. 40 minutes of truncated run was smooth and without any untoward incident and the city is back to normalcy.

Under the guard of more than 17,000 security personnel, the torch passed through a mere stretch of around 2.5 km on New Delhi’s main Raj Path Street peacefully. Around the same time many Tibetans protested at several places before being arrested by alert police.

The entire Raj Path Street was cleared off from the afternoon and nobody was allowed to go near the venue. In fact all the offices and underground Metro terminating near the main venue were closed in the afternoon.

Barricades were put all along the Raj Path to thwart any attempts by Tibetans to sneak in. Indian Police commandos dressed in red and blue jogging dress in tow with Chinese security guards were providing close security cover.

The Chief Minister of Capital city Ms Sheila Dikshit handed over the Olympic flame to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Mr. Suresh Kalmadi after it was lit by vice-chairman of Beijing Olympics Organising Committee Jiang Yu.

70 celebrities including sportsmen, film stars and politicians ran in the relay for a mere distance of 2.5 kilometres before it ended at the India Gate. The celebrity runners had to pass on the flame only after running a few metres due to the shortened length.

Around 60 Tibetans were detained as they attempted to block roads and enter into the main venue in various parts of the city. 30 Tibetan protesters also tried to barge into the President Palace, the starting venue of the relay. This correspondent was part of the group which got arrested while entering into the main venue. Indian Police resorted to mild force, including baton charging, to disperse protesting Tibetans.