Students have burned effigies of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Kathmandu on Thursday “for interfering in Nepal’s internal affairs.”

According to students, India interfered in Nepal’s internal affairs by arresting UML leader Ishwor Pokhrel in New Delhi and by showing unnecessary interest in Nepali politics while questioning him.

Furious students also set fire to five government vehicles in different parts of the capital, eyewitnesses said. The protest rally began in front of Rastriya Sabha Griha at 4:30 in the afternoon and ferried major thoroughfares of the capital.

Addressing a gathering of the protestors, Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala cautioned all not to “undermine” the students’ ongoing movement.

Student leaders Gururaj Ghimire and Gagan Thapa, whom the government had arrested for shouting anti-King slogans, also spoke on the occasion.