DHARAMSHALA, March 10: Police late on Monday banned about 100 Tibetan exiles in India from going ahead with their plan to try and cross the border in a bid to reach their homeland, officials said.

“We have issued a restrain order to the marchers not to leave the Kangra district and if they violate the order then all necessary actions will be taken,” district police chief Atul Phuljile said.

Dharamshala town in the northern Indian district of Kangra is home to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Police superintendent Phuljile said the order followed an advisory that he received from New Delhi to prevent the marchers from trying to reach the border.

The marchers set off to a tumultuous applause earlier on Monday on a symbolic trek home as part of pro-independence protests ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

“This action is in clear violation of the understanding between the government of India and his holiness the Dalai Lama that there will be no anti-China political activities on Indian soil,” the advisory said.

The marchers, including 10 girls and some Tibetan leaders, were at a Buddhist monastery, some 15 kilometres from Dharamshala when police banned their trek.

Tibetan exiles in Dharamshala appeared stunned and their leaders went into a huddle over the surprise development.—AFP