Police broke up a protest by Maoist supporters in Nepal’s capital on Sunday, beating them with bamboo batons and detaining 35.
The former communist rebels have been protesting against the president, whose refusal to dismiss the army chief led to the collapse of the previous Maoist-led government in May.
The Maoists were demonstrating outside the gates of the complex that houses the prime minister’s office.
Police said they asked the protesters to leave and used batons to push them back when they refused and threw stones. Police official Narhari Regmi said they detained 35 people.
The army chief, Rookmangud Katawal, who retired this month, opposed the integration of thousands of former Maoist fighters into the national army, which was part of the peace deal with the rebels when they laid down their arms three years ago. The fighters are still in United Nations-monitored camps.
The communists protested the decision to reinstate the army chief after the previous Maoist-led government fired him. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned as prime minister over the move, and a new coalition government took over in May.
President Ram Baran Yadav, who officially commands Nepal’s military, has said the army chief’s ouster was unconstitutional.
It is unclear what the new army chief will do.
The Maoists contested elections last year and emerged as Nepal’s largest political party.
