KATHMANDU, July 21: As many as 340 Nepali students have returned to Nepal from Bangladesh through the Kakarbhitta transit point on the eastern border of the country over the last three days.

The Nepali students have started returning home after the escalation of violent protests in Bangladesh.

Mohan Paneru, chief of the Immigration Office, Kakarbhitta, said 85 students arrived on Thursday, 114 on Friday and 141 on Saturday. He said that a Maldivian student has also arrived along with the Nepali students.

According to him, the female Maldivian student had been studying together with Nepalis in Bangladesh and she accompanied her Nepali friends to Nepal. He said that she told the Nepali immigration officials that she was allowed by the Indian immigration officials to come together with the Nepali students.

Thousands of Nepali students are studying in Bangladesh and a majority of them are in medical studies. Student protests over the quota in government jobs have taken a violent turn in Bangladesh and the universities have been shut there.