Nepali police fired teargas and used batons to break up a rally by political parties on Friday against King Gyanendra, officials said.
They said about two dozen protesters were injured in clashes with police that began after the demonstrators tried to defy a government order banning rallies on key streets leading to the king's palace and government buildings in the capital.
"It was an unprovoked act by the police when we were staging peaceful protests," Arjun Narsingh K.C., a spokesman for the centrist Nepali Congress party told.