Hong Kong Police arrested three key student pro-democracy leaders Wednesday and cleared out the leading protest camp.

Official action continued for a second day in efforts to close down the two-month-old protests. Police in riot gear quickly took down tents, canopies and metal barricades erected at Mong Kok, a packed working class neighborhood that was a major hotspot in clashes between pro-democracy forces and the police.

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With Mong Kok down, two other encampments remain. The large main camp by government headquarters on the financial district fringe and a smaller camp by Causeway Bay shopping district remain.

As protestors were routed, traffic began to move on Nathan Road by mid-afternoon. However, substantial crowds gathered later in the day causing another confrontation as police blocked their efforts to take back the road.

After two days of clashes as police removed barricades, nearly 150 people were arrested in all, according to Steve Hui, a police spokesman, with one-third of those cited for obstructing officers and contempt of court. The other two-thirds of arrested protestors were arrested for a variety of charges including unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct, possession of offensive weapons and resisting arrest.

Prominent among those arrested were Joshua Wong, the Scholarism group's 18-year-old leader and Lester Shum, the 21-year-old deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of students. Those two groups have been key to the protest movement. Some protestors said the arrests taking away the top leaders had crippled planning.

Protests erupted two months ago when people objected to government plans to screen candidates for the inaugural 2017 Hong Kong elections. As many as 200,000 people took the streets during the initial stages of the protest completely shutting down local business and government. Numbers have decreased steadily along with public enthusiasm in general.

The latest action at Mong Kok and Nathan Road came after taxicab operators filed suit to clear the obstructions so they could take fares. Police had a second injunction from the courts giving them authority to clear out the area as well.

TagsHong Kong, pro-democracy, student leaders, Joshua Wong