NEW DELHI, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Indian authorities have decided to spend $1.3 million on a bullet-proof Mercedes and other measures to protect the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet - the dalai lama - from possible attacks, reports said Thursday.

The Indian government has agreed to equip the dalai lama's palace in Dharamsala, India with a range of security gadgets, including X-ray baggage scanners, metal detectors on doors, a protective wall and new lights, the Indian Express reported.

The decision to tighten security follows the arrest last month of three Tibetans who were allegedly Chinese spies.

Indian authorities said the three Tibetans -- two of whom had spent several years in the Chinese Liberation Army -- were sent to Dharamsala to monitor the movements of the dalai lama, the working of the Tibetan government-in-exile and Tibetan schools.

Tibetans living in India say they have asked the Indian government repeatedly to bolster security for their religious leader in recent years.

"All Tibetan people are concerned about the security of His Holiness," Lobsang Wangchuk, of the Tibetan bureau in New Delhi said. "When Tibetans from India and abroad meet, the first thing they talk about is His Holiness' security."

Wangchuk said he was not aware of any previous attempts on the Tibetan leader's life, but he said Chinese leaders have been "personally attacking" the dalai lama verbally.

"The popularity of His Holiness is a deep pain for the Chinese," Wangchuk said.

The dalai lama, the spiritual head of millions of Tibetans, has been living in exile in India since he fled Tibet following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

He has established a Tibetan government-in-exile which provides education and other services for tens of thousands of Tibetan refugees who have fled to India to escape what they say is persecution by the Chinese government.

Reports said as a new security measure, Tibetans who have entered India after 1975 will not be allowed to work inside the dalai lama's palace.