DHARAN: At least 14 students were injured when students aligned to the

All Nepal National Independent students’ Union-Revolutionary ANNISU(R) clashed with the police on the premises of the police office today.

The students had been gheraoing the Area Police Office,

Dharan, saying that the police lodged a false case against their detained cadres. The students clashed with the police after the former tried to barge into the office of the police chief there.

According to the ANNISU-R, Sunsari, 14 students were

injured in the incident.

In a press release, the student wing said three of its members — Nirajan Dahal and Pahad Limbu — have sustained serious head injuries. They are undergoing treatment in the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) in Dharan.

According to Laxmi Pradha, deputy-chairman of the district committee of the ANNISU(R), the condition of the others injured in the clash is normal. The police lodged a case according to the Public Offence Act against Sunsari district secretariat member of the organisation Bishnu Tamang, regional secretariat member Cholung Limbu and Pawan Chamling after detaining them on March 20.

Police Inspector Durga Dahal said they lodged the case against them as the “drunk” men verbally abused police personnel.

However, the students have refuted the allegation and claimed that the police detained the three as they failed to provide money to the police personnel who had arrested them for violating a traffic rule. Meanwhile, a meeting between representatives of the students and the police personnel following the clash ended inconclusively.

The agitating students have called a two-day educational strike demanding action against the police chief of the Area police office Dharan and release of the cadres. The student wing also threatened to intensify the protest if their demands were not met at the earliest.

Durga Dahal, Police Inspector, Area Police Office Dharan, said that the police used minor force after the unruly students barged into the police office. He also said that action would be taken against the detained students as per the law.