The Dalai Lama is on high alert after receiving reports that Chinese agents have trained Tibetan women for a mission to assassinate him.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader has said that bogus female devotees are supposed to kill him with poison while seeking blessings, he said in an interview with London's Sunday Telegraph.
"We received some sort of information from Tibet. Some Chinese agents training some Tibetans, especially women, you see, using poison- the hair poisoned, and the scarf poisoned- they were supposed to seek blessing from me, and my hand touch," the 76-year-old Nobel laureate reportedly said.
According to News24Online, the Dalai Lama — who has been in exile in India since 1959 — lives under tight security in Dharamsala, but will be in London tomorrow to receive the Templeton Prize at the St Paul's Cathedral.
He told the Telegraph that while his aides had not been able to confirm the reports, they had highlighted his need for high security.
He already has a high-security perimeter around the grounds of his temple in the Himalayan foothills.
Tensions between Tibet and China have grown this year in the wake of a large number of self-immolations by Tibetan protesters, the Telegraph noted.
At least 34 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in the past year in protest of the Chinese government's treatment of the religious and cultural minority, according to the BBC.
More from GlobalPost: China: Dalai Lama encourages suicide, says paper
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