The Olympic torch run has started from Rashtrapati Bhawan, according to television reports. ( Watch ) IOA president Suresh Kalmadi lit the torch, and handed it over to Milkha Singh.
The 2.3 km run on Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate is taking place amid high security, with up to 50 companies of Delhi Police deployed around the area. Seventy sports figures, entertainers and others from the country are taking part in the torch run, including Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan and tennis player Leander Paes.
Apart from these policemen in plainclothes, NSG commandos and a high-level team of Chinese officials are monitoring every inch of the relay.
Meanwhile just 8 km away, Tibetans have gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest against the Olympic relay.
According to TV reports, a scuffle ensued between Tibetan protesters and police during the parallel torch relay that started from Rajghat in New Delhi.
Police also made attempts to put out the torch and arrested nearly 50 protesters, the reports added.
Hundreds of Tibetans on Thursday took out this parallel torch relay run, coinciding with the Olympic flame event, to protest against Chinese "atrocities" in their homeland. ( Watch )
The torch was lit at Rajghat, the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, after an inter-religion prayer meeting. ( Watch: Traffic diversion for torch relay in Delhi )
Several Tibetan groups such as 'Tibet Freedom Movement' and 'Tibetan Youth Congress' and panchayat members from the Tibetan settlements in different parts of the country had been camping at the Jantar Mantar.
The protestors have set up a symbolic Tibetan monastery there and have held prayers in memory of those killed in the anti-China protests in Lhasa which broke out on March 10.
A large number of police personnel were deployed at Chinese embassy in Chanakyapuri, where a number of protests have taken place recently. The roads have been barricaded and security personnel were keeping a tight vigil.
The Olympic torch relay had been plagued by disruptions in London, Paris and San Francisco.
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