Dalai Lama among five dignitaries having escort police pilot

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama is among five people in Himachal Pradesh who get police pilot escort owing to a threat perception to their life, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today.
"There are five distinguished people in the state who have been provided with the police pilot," Singh informed the state Assembly in a written reply.
Besides the spiritual leader, Governor Urmila Singh, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh High Court Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir, and Assembly Speaker B B L Butail have been given the privilege, he said.
Official sources said that a number of central security agencies are also involved in the security of Tibetan spiritual leaders, the Dalai Lama, and the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who also resides in Dharamsala.

Himachal Pradesh has been requesting the Centre to reimburse the expenditure incurred on the security of the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa, and has also sought Central assistance for establishing Tibetan refugee units in Shimla and Dharamsala.