POLICE stormed a hospital last night to seize the bodies of three protesters who died after security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of pro-democracy campaigners in Kathmandu.

Scores were injured after taking to the streets in defiance of a curfew imposed after two weeks of national strikes in protest at the absolute rule of King Gyanendra.

Ten people have already been killed outside the capital in demonstrations that appear to encompass all sections of society. Housewives, lawyers and even civil servants have taken to the streets as anti-monarchy sentiment has grown across the country.

Yesterday hundreds of security forces dressed in riot gear and armed with batons and guns opened fire on protesters who gathered on the Kathmandu ring road. They had massed in an attempt to march on the city centre and the royal palace, waving party flags and shouting “Down with Gyanendra, long live democracy”.

The bloodiest clashes took place in the western suburb of Kalanki where three bodies with gunshot wounds and 40 injured people were taken to a nearby hospital. The bodies were later seized by police, who gave no reason for their actions.

“Police opened indiscriminate fire,” said Kundan Aryal, a human rights group volunteer who helped to take wounded to hospital from Kalanki. “They used batons and fired rubber and live bullets. They chased the fleeing protesters.”

In other suburbs, police released tear gas and opened fire with rubber bullets to push back the crowds, witnesses said. More than 30 people were injured, some seriously, in the northern suburb of Gongabu after police beat back an angry crowd with batons. Scores of wounded protesters were taken to several hospitals.

“We are ready to sacrifice our lives for democracy,” said Sanyam Poudel, 22. “We gave many chances to the Royal Family but the King has misunderstood us.”

Several injured demonstrators were left lying in the streets as ambulances were denied passes to break the curfew in order to attend to them, according to eyewitness reports.

The King seized absolute power in February 2005, claiming that the move was necessary to crush a Maoist insurgency that has cost 13,000 lives in the past ten years. But the guerrillas’ grip on rural Nepal has since escalated while the monarch has accelerated his curb on civil liberties.

Late last year the Maoists and political parties announced a coalition to unseat the King and calling for the restoration of multiparty democracy.

Last night the intervention of India, which shares Nepal’s longest border, raised some hopes as Delhi’s envoy said that he expected an announcement from the palace in the next 48 hours.

In the heart of Kathmandu, a city of 1.5 million people, the streets were deserted except for armed police and troops on patrol. Security was particularly tight around the King’s residence, Narayanhity Palace. The gates were closed and an armoured car was on patrol.

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