Dhangadhi, March 22:

Four members of the election committee of Raghunath Multiple Campus, including campus chief Dirgharaj Bhatta, who were abducted one day before the Free Students’ Union polls, were released this evening from Chisapani.

The cadres of the ANNFSU abducted them to obstruct the FSU polls as they had not filed candidacy on the prescribed date, district vice-chairman of the NC Bir Bahadur Lama said. However, ANNFSU ruled out its involvement in the abduction. “Our organisation wasn’t involved in the abduction. This is a ploy to defame us,” the ANNFSU said. ANNFSU leader Yagyaraj Dhungana said it would not allow polls unless their candidates were allowed to file their candidacy.

“We couldn’t register the names of our candidates on the prescribed date because of the Tarai bandh,” he added.

In Tanahun, eight students affiliated to NSU, including the newly elected president of FSU in Bhanubhakta Acharya Multiple Campus, Damauli, were injured when the YCL cadres attacked them. The injured are undergoing treatment in Damauli hospital. The students were thrashed after they submitted a memorandum to the campus administration urging it to take action against the persons involved in vandalising the campus properties on March 19, according to the FSU at the campus. Protesting the attack, the NSU called Damauli bandh today. Hundreds of passengers were stranded after the agitating students blocked traffic along the Prithvi Highway. District-level examination of Grade VIII was also postponed because of the bandh.

In Bardiya, the supporters of ANNFSU and ANNISU-R clashed in Babai Multiple Campus this morning. The clash ensued after the ANNISU-R supporters locked ANNFSU supporters inside the campus building. Newly elected FSU member Dilip Chaudhari was injured in the incident. Chaudhari, who is a ANNFSU supporter, is undergoing treatment at Bardiya District Hospital.

Meanwhile, Butwal Multiple Campus in Rupandehi has been closed indefinitely from today. Issuing a notice, campus chief Dr Surendra Giri informed that the campus would be closed until next notice. He said the administration was forced to close the campus because of the dispute in vote count.

In Kaski, the counting of votes at Prithvi Narayan Campus, which has been halted for the past three days, could not resume today as well. The process was halted on Friday after the ANNISU-R boycotted the count, alleging that the campus staffers reduced their votes. Talks to resume the count failed despite repeated attempts.

In Kanchanpur, academic activities have been indefinitely halted at Janajyoti Multiple Campus in Mahendranagar after the students of ANNISU-R vandalised and torched the offices of campus chief and assistant campus chiefs. While the ANNISU-R have been demanding the campus administration to declare them winner unanimously as other students unions had not filed their candidacy, the NSU and the ANNFSU have been maintaining that they were not allowed to file their candidacy. The NSU and the ANNFSU have urged the campus administration to fix a new date for FSU polls.