Engineering campuses closed

Kathmandu, December 19:

At least two dozen students affiliated with Nepal Students’ Union (NSU), the student wing of Nepali Congress, were injured in police action at Pulchowk Engineering Campus (PEC) and Thapathali Engineering Campus (TEC) today.

The PEC administration today announced indefinite closure of the college following clashes between the students affiliated with the NSU and All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (ANNISU-R), the student wing of the Maoists.

According to the NSU, the injured students included general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya and Jit Jung Basnet, TEC Free Students Union (FSU) Chairman Sudip Sharma and students Chanda Adhikari, Bishwo Dauliya, Sagar Shrestha, Kumar Dulal, Jitendra Shrestha and Ravi Khanal. The condition of Sharma is reported to be serious. All the injured students are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the Valley.

According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Navaraj Silwal, seven students have been arrested from both the colleges.

The students vandalised two government motorcycles and one government van near the PEC. Some window-panes of houses near Bishnumati Bridge, Lalitpur, were also smashed during the protest.

The NSU activists were protesting yesterday’s police action and attacks on students by the ANNISU-R activists at the PEC.

NSU vice president Pramod Hari Guragain said students affiliated with the ANNISU-R had attacked the students affiliated with NSU with khukuri yesterday. Bikas Sedhai was seriously injured in yesterday’s attack, he added.

Meanwhile, police today arrested Raj Kumar Limbu, secretary of ANNISU-R Pashupati Multiple Campus unit, with a khukuri. However, Guragain claimed that he was arrested with two khukuris and a pistol.