Kathmandu, March 10:

Police today detained 155 Tibetan refugees for few hours after they clashed with the police at Chuchchepati while the refugees were rallying to mark the Tibetan Uprising Day, demanding liberation of Tibet and free movement between Nepal and Tibet.

Tibetan refugees have been marking March 10 as the Tibetan Uprising Day to commemorate the day when China hoisted its flag on Tibetan soil in 1949.

Over 10 demonstrators and 10 police personnel including DSP Yog Bahadur Pal sustained minor injuries when they clashed at Chuchchepati after the police blocked the rally there. The rallyists were planning to go to the Chinese embassy at Baluwatar to hand over a memorandum.

The rally started from near the Bouddha Stupa at around 11:30 am. “The demonstrators pelted stones at the police when the latter blocked them from moving ahead,” Sarbendra Khanal, SP at the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said. Police rained lathis on the refugees to rein in them and arrested 155 of them. While 16 were taken to Metropolitan Police Circle, Bouddha, 130 were kept at Gaushala and nine at Kamalpokhari respectively. All of them were later released.