At least 17 people were injured after a clash between loan shark victims and the police turned violent in the capital on Monday.

Eight police personnel were injured and nine protesters sustained injuries during the clash, according to Superintendent of Police Sitaram Rijal, who is also spokesperson at the Kathmandu District Police Office.

“The injured are undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital,” Rijal told the Post.

According to him, the police detained 35 protesters including 29 male.

The protestors, who claim to have been cheated by microfinance companies, had been staying in Shantibatika at Ratnapark. They had travelled to the capital all the way from different parts of the Terai region.

According to the protestors, the fight broke out after police personnel allegedly used force to stop them from going to Bhadrakali, where they had planned to stage a demonstration.

Water cannons were also used to disperse the crowd and stop them from carrying out their protest, the protestors said.

Some of the victims were allegedly also subjected to physical assault after being taken to the Pradarshanimarg-based Mahendra Police Club instead of the hospital for medical treatment as they were told, a victim told the Post over the phone. According to the victim, people from both sides- police and protesters- have sustained injuries during the scuffle.

On April 3, loan shark victims from 20 districts of the Madhesh Province arrived in Kathmandu to stage protests after the government failed to comply with the previously signed agreement.

The victims also complained about the new agreement, signed with the victims on April 1, being unsatisfactory. They had planned on staging a protest against the same, and to pressurise the government to find a permanent solution to their plight.