Telangana crippled by 48-hour bandh

Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh?s Telangana region was crippled by a 48-hour shutdown called by Telangana Joint Action Committee on Tuesday in demand of a separate statehood.

Educational institutions, shops and government as well as private offices remained closed, while all vehicles, including buses and auto rickshaws, remained off road causing difficulties for commuters to reach their respective destination.

Security has been beefed up, especially near the state Assembly. Additional forces have been deployed in and around sensitive areas like Osmania University, the the epicenter of the Telangana movement, here.

On Monday, clashes between students and police broke out again at the Osmania University campus.

Violence erupted after the police tried to prevent students from taking out ?Chalo Assembly? (Let?s go to Assembly) rally demanding a separate statehood for Telangana .

?The police tried to stop pro-Telangana students from taking out the rally. But they kept on shouting slogans and scuffled with the police. They even pelted stones at us. We had to resort to baton charge to control the mob,? said a senior police officer.

Earlier, late Friday night, pro-Telangana students pelted stones at vehicles on Tarnaka main road and set fire on five buses, including government ones, and police tents along the university campus.