About 70 runners, three-quarters of them athletes, participated in the relay amid a level of security usually seen only when a visiting US president is appearing in public.

There were no crowds lining the relay route, a boulevard that is surrounded by milling throngs when the annual Republic Day parade passes by.

Policemen had barricaded approach roads from 2km away.

Due to the shortened run, most participants got to hold the flame for just a few metres at a time, surrounded all the time by Indian commandos. Private television stations were banned from the venue and told to take their feeds from state-run Doordarshan.

Chinese diplomats and other Chinese residents in India boarded Volvo buses at the Chinese Embassy for the short ride to Raj Path, the former King's Way, where the run began from the gates of the presidential palace.

The buses sported banners in red proclaiming: 'Light the Passion, Share the Dream.'

From the original 7km run, yesterday's relay was shortened to less than 3km and took less than an hour to complete.

Tibetan exiles, meanwhile, held their own parallel run, beginning at the mausoleum of Mahatma Gandhi and finishing their journey not far from the Olympic torch relay.

Many could be spotted around the shopping area of Connaught Place, some wearing the robes of monks. Many had 'Free Tibet' signs pinned on their clothes.

At the main show, several of India's biggest sport stars were missing as the flame slowly made its way down the former imperial boulevard.

Popular Indian soccer captain Baichung Bhutia and ace shooter Jaspal Rana were among the top athletes to pull out. Also declining to participate was actress Soha Ali Khan, daughter of former Indian cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

However, her brother Saif showed up for the run, as did tennis ace Leander Paes and retired Asian Games sprint queen P.T. Usha.

India's greatest cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, excused himself, citing a groin injury that has kept him out of the game recently.

Ms Kiran Bedi, iconic in India as the first woman to enter the Indian Police Service, said she would not 'run in a cage'.

In India, where suspicions of China lurk just beneath the surface, the Tibet issue and the Dalai Lama have lots of supporters. The list of admirers includes Ms Priyanka Gandhi, the strong-willed daughter of the late Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The Dalai Lama's repeated calls to allow the torch relay to proceed and for the Olympics to go through unhindered have fallen on deaf ears among Tibetans in exile.

Tibetan protesters here have repeatedly attempted to raid the Chinese Embassy, which has been under a security blanket for the past month.

The frequent attempts to enter the embassy so enraged Beijing that it called in the Indian ambassador, Ms Nirupama Rao, after midnight to register its protest.

In turn, the state government of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety, invited the Dalai Lama to visit the province, a deliberate snub to Beijing.

The torch arrived here from Pakistan at 1am local time, and travelled the 14km to the Le Meridien Hotel, where it rested amid high security.

Wary of surprises from Tibetan protesters, the authorities had not revealed the exact time for the relay run, merely indicating that it would start after 3pm local time along the route taken by the annual Republic Day parade.

The windows of government offices along the route were closed after lunch and staff were told that they could not leave the buildings once they had entered them.

Sharp-shooters ringed the roofs of buildings, a level of security usually witnessed only for a visiting leader from the United States.

'We have the Commonwealth Games coming up in two years and don't want anyone here to get ideas from the Tibetans,' said a senior security official in New Delhi.

'Our big worry is if one of these hotheads tries to set himself on fire in front of the cameras of the world media.'

Early yesterday, edgy police cracked down on Tibetan protesters, rounding up several people near the Meridien Hotel.

Today, the torch will be flown to Bangkok, where the relay will begin tomorrow afternoon.

velloor@sph.com.sg