NEW DELHI, March 13 (UPI) -- Indian police have arrested about 100 Tibetan exiles who set out earlier this week on a protest march to their homeland.

The march is part of a global campaign by Tibetan activists to focus attention ahead of the Beijing Summer Olympics on the struggle to free Tibet from Chinese rule.

The banned march was halted in Dehra when police took the participants away in buses, the Voice of America said. The Tibetans had pledged to reach Lhasa in Tibet within six months.

Leaders voiced disappointment and sought permission to resume their trek.