KATHMANDU: Nepal Students’ Union, affiliated with the Nepali Congress, on Monday warned of dire consequences if the government did not book those involved in firing at Tri-Chandra College by tomorrow.

Addressing a protest rally at Tri-Chandra College, Pradeep Paudel, NSU president, said, “We give the government 24-hours

to identify and book

those who opened fire on the campus. Continued silence of the government will compel us to take bolder steps.”

Tension ran high at Tri-Chandra College after students affiliated with two major ruling partners — the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress — engaged in clashes following a dispute over a tender notice the college had published.

NSU central leader Bhim Singh Gurung and the union activist Ravi Thapa were seriously injured in the incident.

Gurung sustained bullet injury, while Thapa was beaten up with iron rods. The injured are receiving medical care.

The NSU has accused UML-affiliated Youth Force and ANNFSU of opening fire on its activists. “No degree of condemnation can make for the excesses of the UML youth outfits. It was a murder attempt. The government should take stern action against the culprits at the earliest,” said Paudel.

NSU vice-president Nain Singh Mahara urged Minister for Home Affairs Bhim Rawal to immediately quit on moral ground.

“Rawal should resign as he failed to ensure security,” he said. Krishna Jaisi, NSU unit president at the college, demanded dissolution of the Youth Force.

NSU said it would organise protest rallies in

campuses across the Valley tomorrow to pressure

the government to track the criminals. “We will carry on with street protests until our demands are met,” said Paudel.

Meanwhile, Ram Kumari Jhankri, ANNFSU president, refuted NSU’s allegations. “We were in no way involved in the firing. We are investigating into the possible infiltration of criminal elements in the guise of students,” she said, asking the NSU not to politicise the incident.

The college administration has decided to suspend all its classes and tender process indefinitely.

NSU activists burnt tyres and disrupted vehicular movement at Ghantaghar, Exhibition Road and Chabahil for the second day today. Traffic on major thoroughfares in the capital was paralysed for hours due to the protest.