Chinese national held near Dalai Lama’s palace

A Chinese national, suspected to be a spy from Mcleod Ganj, close to the palace of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was arrested.

Police sources said the Chinese national, identified as Li Chengzie (25) of Hunan province, was apprehended from Mcleod Ganj, the seat of Dalai Lama and Tibetan government in-exile, yesterday.

Li had been illegally staying in a monastery located near the official palace of the the Dalai Lama in McLeodganj for the past 10 days, a senior police official said.

Li was produced in a local court today and remanded to police custody till March 24.

Police recovered a  dictionary for translating words from Tibetan dialect to English, a copy of Bhagavad Gita in English, a magazine and a personal diary from Li.

Li was having a Nepal tourist visa which expired on March 16 and police suspected he might have entered India after travelling through Nepal illegally, the official said.

The arrested person was being interrogated.