India, Feb. 28 -- Would a cup of tea have eased the impasse any sooner between the Delhi Police and its Himachal Pradesh counterpart in Shimla last week?

No one knows. But the drink was on an officer's mind before the team was allowed to return to the national capital with its arrests. "You obstructed our work, detained us for the whole night, could have asked us for a tea at least," were the last words of an officer to Himachal police before finally leaving for Delhi on the morning of February 19 from the Shoghi border, 15 km from Shimla.

Hearing this, a journalist, present on the spot at the Shogi border, stepped forward and asked the officer for tea, to which he said: "Thank you, but we would leave now."

The exchange came following ...