Students went on a rampage across Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to protest Chief Minister Mayawati's decision to ban student union elections. Angry students organised protest marches and set several vehicles on fire.

A police spokesperson said that over 150 students have been taken into custody during the protests.

Students torched three vehicles and damaged a bus in the town of Ballia. The state government ordered that all educational institutions should remain shut in Ballia on Saturday as a precautionary measure.

Over two dozen students were taken into custody in Basti town while they were holding a demonstration to protest the government's decision.

A large number of students also protested at Ayodhya and Faizabad. In Varanasi, inicidents of stone pelting were reported from several places and students even damaged buses.

Over 40 students were detained at Ferozabad after they participated in a procession to protest the decision. Security personnel were deployed across the state to prevent any untoward incident, said official sources.

In Gorakhpur, a bandh call by students evoked a mixed response with a majority of shops and other business establishments remaining shut. Students burnt Mayawati's effigy at several places and shouted anti-government slogans demanding immediate withdrawal of the order.

Tension also gripped the Lucknow University campus where students sat on a dharna to register their protest. Police in riot gear were deployed in and around the varsity campus and at the Vice-Chancellor's residence to prevent any untoward incident, police sources said.