JIRI, Oct 18  – Police arrested here Wednesday a total of 26 Tibetans, including women and children, for illegally entering Nepal through Nepal-Tibet border, police said.

They were arrested when they appeared to a local market, Dhunge Bazaar, which lies about 188 km east of Kathmandu.

Police said that most of the Tibetans who fled their home have started coming directly to police station after the Immigration Department started sending them to refugee centres or to their destinations after making an investigation. Deputy Superintendent of Police at Charikot, the District Headquarters of Dolakha, Keshari Raj Ghimire said that they would be sent to Immigration Department, Kathmandu on Thursday.

A totalx of 170 Tibetans have so far been arrested this fiscal year, according to the police. The police suspected that they must have entered Nepal to go to India with a view to see the spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who has been living in Dharmasala, India since he fled Tibet.