Tibetans hold mock torch run in India

NEW DELHI, April 15 (UPI) -- A group of Tibetans defied tight security Tuesday in the capital of India to run the Olympic torch route in protest.

The torch is to be in New Delhi Thursday.

Security precautions are unprecedented, the newspaper Daily News & Analysis reported. The public has been banned from the Rajpath, and police sources told the newspaper Tibetans might be banned from the area.

The protest group, 27 Tibetans, ran the length of the Rajpath in a mock torch relay. They carried their own torch and were dressed in yellow jerseys that carried messages such as "Stop killings in Tibet" and "No Olympics in China."

Police held their own run Tuesday, with thousands of officers drilling for the arrival of the torch.

The torch has been greeted with protests in the United States and Europe against Chinese policy in Tibet and China's close relationship with the Sudanese government.