Hundreds of Nepali students fought pitched battles with police on Friday, braving tear gas, hurling stones and chanting pro-democracy slogans as a four-day general strike against the king's rule entered its second day.
The strike and protests have been called by the Himalayan kingdom's seven main political parties in what they hope will be a definitive campaign against King Gyanendra, who sacked the government and took control of the nation last year.
Students shouting "Death to Gyanendra" charged at riot police in the Tribhuvan University campus in the capital, as dozens of tear gas shells were fired at them.
Carrying a Communist Party flag, hundreds of students hurled stones at police. Some beat up a constable who got separated from his comrades while others destroyed two statues of the king's grandmother on the campus.
Riot police also fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets at protesters in Lalitpur town in the capital region, where the government had banned protests.
Protesters set fire to a post office, which was doused. Tyres were thrown on the road and set on fire at some places. "Vacate Narayanhiti, Democratic Republic is arriving," some activists shouted, referring to the royal palace in Kathmandu.
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