Kathmandu: In a major crackdown on protesters demanding removal of the royal-appointed Government, Nepal police arrested about 1,500 agitators, including top Opposition leaders Girija Prasad Koirala and Madhav Kumar Nepal in Kathmandu today (May 3, 2004).

Ahead of the planned demonstrations at Ratnapark to mark the first anniversary of the protest movement by the five agitating parties, police arrested Nepali Congress president and former Prime Minister Koirala from his residence at Maharajgunj at 13.45 hrs (local time) by the Armed Police Force personnel, party sources said.

Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) general secretary Nepal was also arrested from his residence at Koteshwor at the same time, they said.

CPN UML leader Bamdev Gautam and Nepali Congress Kathmandu district president Tirtha Ram Dangol were also arrested along with the two top Opposition leaders.

They have now been kept at the Armed Police Force headquarters at Halchowk in the outskirts of Kathmandu.

The police arrested them without any arrest warrants mainly to prevent them from attending the pro-democracy agitation programmes, a party activist said.

Thousands of riot police surrounded Ratnapark, the main venue where the leaders of five agitating parties were supposed to address the public meeting this afternoon, and arrested 1.500 agitators from different parts of the valley.

Thousands of protesters shouted slogans demanding immediate release of their detained top leaders before their pre-scheduled public meeting.

Anti-King demonstrations have been organised at New Road, Ratnapark, Bhotahity, Baghbazaar, Bhrikutimandap, Sundhara and Putalisadak in Kathmandu defying the Government's ban on such protest shows for more than one month.

Today is the 33rd day of the non-stop agitations being launched by the five party alliance.

By staging sit-in and protest rallies the agitating five parties today observed the first anniversary of their joint struggle, which was launched a few months after the October 2002 royal take over by dismissing elected Government.

The entire Kathmandu city looked tense with riot police everywhere and hundreds of demonstrators chanting anti-King slogans in each and every corner of the city.