Tibetans protest near Li's hotel

Three Tibetan activists Monday defied security and managed to stage a small protest here near the Taj Palace Hotel where Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is staying, police said. Another group of 300 Tibetans held a march elsewhere.

Three Tibetan students climbed a structure in a filling station near Li's hotel and shouted slogans for a free Tibet, an official said.

Displaying a banner that read "Li Keqiang, Tibet will be free", the activists claiming to be members of group Students for a Free Tibet also shouted anti-China slogans.

They were detained by police and let off later.

"We are here to shame Li Keqiang over the ongoing crisis in Tibet and to challenge him to end China's failed policies that have driven 117 Tibetans to light their own bodies on fire in protest," said Tenzin Tselha, grassroots director of Students for a Free Tibet, India.

The activists demanded India must raise the issue of Tibet with China.

In north Delhi's Majnu Ki Tilla area where a Tibetan refugee neighbourhood is located, over 300 people peacefully marched in the area for 20 minutes.

"It was a peaceful protest," a police official told IANS.

Several roads were blocked and Metro stations shut in the VIP New Delhi area, the seat of the central government, akin to Washington in District Columbia in US, in view of Li's engagements. He arrived Sunday and leaves Tuesday for Mumbai.