NEW DELHI -- The god-like Dalai Lama of Tibet was reported today to have escaped his Chinese Communist pursuers and crossed the border into India.
The Chinese Communists said in a Peiping radio broadcast monitored in Tokyo that the young Dalai Lama was accompanied into India by some of the rebels who took part in the fighting at Lhasa, Tibet's capital city, nearly two weeks ago.
The Communist report came soon after informed sources in New Delhi reported renewed fighting had broken out between rebels and the Chinese Communists in an area southeast of Lhasa.
Peiping radio said the Dalai Lama entered India "under duress by the rebellious elements." The Communists have charged all along that the young god-king did not really want to leave Lhasa. Their latest broadcast implied that he was a virtual captive of the rebels.
Indian border police were said by Peiping to be on their way from Tawang to meet the Dalai Lama. Peiping also said a UPI correspondent was on his way to the Indian border to interview him.
Renewed fighting in southeast Tibet was said to have begun Wednesday when the Communists directed heavy fire against pockets of rebel Khamba tribesmen. The Communists were said to be dropping paratroopers over a wide area of southeastern Tibet.
The Chinese garrison in Gyantse, 100 miles southwest of Tibet, was said to be preparing for new trouble with rebel elements.
