At least 40 injured after Nepal protest
KATMANDU, Nepal --Police broke up a demonstration Tuesday in Nepal's capital by hundreds of students protesting the king's seizure of absolute power, injuring at least 36, witnesses said. Four policemen were also hurt.
In a separate rally later in the day, about 2,000 political leaders and supporters demonstrated in the streets of Katmandu after police blocked them from a scheduled rally at the Royal Nepal Academy.
The first demonstration was organized by student groups affiliated with the country's seven major political parties, which have banded together to protest King Gyanendra's power grab earlier this year.
About 500 students blocked a key street Tuesday when police charged at them with batons. The students retaliated by throwing stones, witnesses said.
Police arrested several students, said Keshav Singh of the Nepal Student Union.
At the Royal Nepal Academy later, police locked the main entrance and formed a line to prevent former politicians from entering the premises for a rally against the king's power grab. Minor scuffles broke out, but there were no injuries reported.
"Down with autocracy. We want democracy," chanted the demonstrators.
Student groups, political parties and journalists have held a series of protests demanding the restoration of democracy since the constitutional monarch took absolute control Feb. 1.
The king said he needed to seize power to curb corruption and quell an anti-monarchist communist insurgency that has claimed more than 11,500 lives. 