Padang – Seven students were injured and 46 arrested after clashes with security forces during a protest here against a Jakarta-appointed caretaker administration put in place after the governor resigned.

Some 300 students teachers protested at the West Sumatra governor's office and clashed with police after they attempted to take the governor's chair from his office. The students oppose caretaker governor, Major General Dunija.

Police charged the student crowd and beat them with batons. At least 46 protestors were arrested and seven others were rushed to hospitals. Six were detained in hospital.

West Sumatra Police Chief Colonel Dasrul Lamsudin told journalists that force had been used because the students had tried to steal the governor's chair.

On Saturday, police, citing the absence of a permit to hold a demonstration, charged into a group of some 20 students protestors and arrested most of them.

The students picketed the local parliament as the caretaker governor was sworn in. Seventeen of the 46 students arrested Tuesday had been among those arrested on Saturday. The students rejected the new appointment as there had been no local consultation.

Muchlim Ibrahim resigned as governor on March 13 after President B.J Habibie and the minister of home affairs appointed a new deputy governor without his approval.