Pokhara University remained tense throughout Thursday after police arrested four students of Nepal Student Union (NSU)—the student wing of main opposition Nepali Congress.

The students were arrested after they torched the chairs of vice-chancellor and Free Student Union (FSU) chairman demanding resignation of union secretary.

Bishnu Subedi, Phiroj Subedi, Bikash Ranabhat and Dipendra Gautam were arrested this afternoon.

NSU expressed its dissatisfaction after the police selectively arrested its cadres, while sparing the students of All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU), the student wing of Nepal Communist Party.

The situation turned worse after students clashed with police at the University.

The NSU intensified the protest saying that the Free Student Union should be automatically defunct after the completion of exams.

NSU accused FSU Secretary Suraj Pariyar of not resigning within a month after the completion of Bachelor’s level exams.

NSU student Pradeep Sigdel had served a 24-hour ultimatum to vice-chancellor and registrar to address their demand.

“Free student union secretary has not resigned from his post with the backing of a two-thirds majority,” said Sigdel, adding “We were forced to intensify the protest after the secretary went against the statute.”

FSU Chairman Sunil Timilsena, however, said that the NSU students abruptly torched the chair without giving prior information.

He claimed that the statute is controversial. “The statute states that the tenure of FSU is two years,” Timilsena said.

“The statue even states that the tenure will be ended after the completion of semester,” he said. “Nothing was written in the statute that the post will remain vacant after the completion of semester,” he added.

Saying that the executive board of the University will take the final decision, Tilimsena said the FSU has already sent a letter to the board to resolve the issue.