Police in Nepal used teargas in the capital Kathmandu on Monday to disperse a student demonstration against rising fuel prices, officials and witnesses said, a sign of growing popular discontent with rising inflation, Reuters reported.

The state-run Nepal Oil Corporation raised gasoline and diesel prices by 12 percent and 16 percent, respectively, on Monday, raising fears of even higher prices.

About 100 protesters from the All Nepal National Free Student Union, the student wing of the main opposition Nepali Communist Party, clashed with police after they were prevented from holding a rally in Kathmandu.