Eight demonstrators managed to hoodwink security personnel to successfully remonstrate outside Jiabao's hotel
Eight demonstrators managed to hoodwink security personnel to successfully remonstrate outside Jiabao's hotel
It wasn't a commando unit but the task was executed with surgical precision. Yesterday, while security authorities were busy shepherding around 800 Tibetan protestors near Jantar Mantar, around eight protesters shouted slogans outside Hotel Taj Palace where Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was staying, sending security personnel into a tizzy. 
Stopped in tracks: (Above and right) Policemen detain Tibetan protesters
during a demonstration outside Hotel Taj Palace where Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao is staying, in New Delhi. PICs/Imtiyaz Khan
The lithe protesters kept running around for ten minutes, waving Tibetan flags and shouting slogans demanding Tibet's freedom, making policemen pant and huff after them.
At 4.10 pm four Tibetan youths arrived in a Swift outside a Caf ufffd Coffee Day outlet near the hotel's entrance at Sardar Patel Marg, posing as normal youngsters out for a cuppa. Minutes later a lone protester climbed out and started shouting slogans in front of the hotel's gate. Alerted by the commotion, around 25 police personnel ran after him.
Chinese checkers
Executing the next step of the well planned operation, while the bewildered policemen were trying to apprehend the first guy three more protesters tumbled out of the car running in different directions. The distraction paid off and they almost reached the hotel's gate before security personnel swamped on them. The protesters kept running amok waving Tibetan flags for at least five minutes before they were caught.
While they were bundled into their own car with around 30 policemen standing guard, another group of four more protesters including a woman, arrived on foot at the venue.
They too kept almost 20 policemen running after them for a few minutes before being caught. The woman was reportedly manhandled by the policemen, before someone intervened, and was handed over to the women personnel on duty.
Call bluff
"We knew most of our phones had been tapped for a few days now. So we sat in the same room and called up each other having conversations like, 'Send 200 protestors outside the Chinese Embassy at so and so time' to distract them," said a protester who saw the whole drama unfold from a distance. "That helped us keep them in the dark to a large extent," he added.
The young men and a woman were apprehended and whisked away but according to their supporters the ruckus they created for few minutes was enough to grab eyeballs. "Maybe they couldn't fell the dragon, but scratching its nose in its lair is good enough. Jiabao needs to address the issue of Tibet's territorial integrity and sovereignty," said 52-year- old Dolma, a Tibetan protester who was present at Jantar Mantar, reacting to the act by the young people.
'Ever ready'
When MiD DAY enquired about the incident, a policeman at the spot replied impromptu: "Of course we were prepared for any kind of unwanted incident. Didn't you see that we have apprehended them before they could do any damage?"
However, this reporter overheard a conversation between policemen when they were running after the protesters. "I hope the Chinese leader wasn't watching this from his hotel window. These guys almost cost us our job," they said.
| Stealing a march |
| On Wednesday, hundreds of Tibetan exiles marched through the heart of the Capital to protest against China's rule over Tibet, as Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao began a visit to Delhi. |
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