Nepalese police release officers

Many policemen in Nepal complain about poor working conditions

Seven senior policemen who were taken hostage by junior officers in Nepal have been released, officials say.

Hundreds of riot policemen in the town of Nepalganj, about 350km (220 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, took the officers hostage on Saturday.

The policemen said they were being "ill-treated" and given poor quality food by their superiors.

The protesters gave up late on Sunday after the government refused to talk to them and now face indiscipline charges.

The incident is the latest in a series of rebellions by junior policemen who are demanding better working conditions.

"The rebel policemen have surrendered to me and laid down their arms," Reuters news agency quoted Bharat Bahadur Gharti Chhetri, the most senior police official in Nepalganj, as saying.

"All seven officers have been freed unharmed. They are with me right now," he said.

Officials said the rebel policemen would be charged with indiscipline.