Kathmandu, Apr 12: Six people were hurt today when police baton charged hundreds of students in far southeastern Nepal demonstrating against Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand as he arrived in the region, a student source said. The students began shouting anti-government slogans as soon as Chand's helicopter landed in Biratnagar, 298 kilometres from the capital.
"In the police charge, six students were injured, two of them seriously," a student union leader Narendra Baral said by telephone.
A local police source said, "In order to clear the road for the Prime Minister and check vandalism, the police resorted to a mild bat on charge."
The students demand the resignation of Chand saying that he lacked a people's mandate.

They also protested against a government decision to raise the price of petroleum products by seven to 64 percent. The students had called a dawn-to-dusk general strike to protest the hike.
"Down with l B Chand,” "Cancel new price of petroleum products" and "Chand we want you to resign," the students shouted.


Chand was appointed the new prime minister of Nepal on October 4 by King Gyanendra after the monarch dismissed the elected premier, Sher Bahadur Deuba, for failing to hold mid-term polls.
The student protesters damaged a government vehicle, police said.

Chand was in Biratnagar to attend a function organised by the local unit of federation of the Nepalese chambers of commerce and industry.

Bureau Report