Mixed response to Telangana bandh, student commits suicide

Hyderabad : Barring minor incidents, the day-long Telangana shutdown called by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to condemn arrests Friday evoked partial response and ended peacefully in the region Saturday while a student committed suicide here.

Normal life was affected in five districts of the Telangana region but there was not much impact in other districts including Hyderabad.

Educational institutions were closed across the region, which comprises 10 districts. Shops and businesses were shut in several parts of Warangal, Medak, Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts.

Two buses of the state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC) were set on fire by protesters in Mahabubnagar district and few other buses were damaged in stone pelting.

RTC services were badly hit in the region. Its city services in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad plied as usual but most buses leaving for Telangana districts were cancelled due to lack of passengers.

The services were restored only Saturday evening.

Police arrested several TRS leaders and activists at various places when they staged sit-in outside the RTC depots, tried to force shops to shut and blocked roads.

TRS legislator Harish Rao and his supporters were arrested at Siddipet in Medak district. Some legislators and leaders were put under house arrest

In Hyderabad, shops were closed in a few areas while most schools and colleges remained closed.

Tension prevailed at Vidyut Soudha, the head office of power transmission corporation, as police arrested Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) chairman M. Kodandaram, TRS leader K. Tarakarama Rao, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader N. Janardhana Reddy and others when they reached there to support the protest by the employees.

BJP state chief G. Kishan Reddy and others staged a protest at the busy RTC Cross Roads to condemn the government’s crackdown Friday.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) took out a rally to condemn Friday’s police attack on its office.

CPI state secretary K. Narayana told reporters that Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma had apologized over the incident. Hundreds were arrested in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana Friday.

Osmania University was tense as a student committed suicide for the sake of separate Telangana state.

Apparently frustrated by the delay in the formation of a separate state, Bandaru Srinivas, an engineering student, ended his life. He was found hanging from a tree opposite the library on the Osmania University campus. He hailed from Mahabubnagar district of Telangana region.

Srinivas is the third student to end his life on the campus.

Meanwhile, TRS has made it clear that nothing short of a separate state of Telangana is acceptable to it.

Party legislator Tarakarama Rao said people of the region would not accept any alternative to a separate state.

Leaders of the Congress party from Telangana region held a meeting to chalk out their future course of action.

The state ministers, MPs and other leaders held a meeting as the arrests of hundreds of Telangana activists have mounted pressure on the Congress leaders.

Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy said they were ready for any sacrifice to achieve a separate Telangana state. They will meet again on June 18 to discuss the future.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P. Goverdhan Reddy lashed out at Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy for using police against the Friday Telangana march.