Thousands detained on eve of Sadak Bandh

• Hyd�Kurnool NH sees heavy police deployment
• Around 6,000 cops to man the 190-km stretch
• Up to 40 cops being deployed for every kmA
• Kodand, Harish, KTR warn against 'repression'

Mahbubnagar: Stage is set for a faceoff between police and T protagonists with both sides unrelenting in their stands on Sadak Bandh on Thursday. Important stretches on the National Highway from Shamshabad in Rangareddy district to Alampur in Mahbubnagar district, which will be the scene of action, were cordoned off. District SP Nagendra Kumar made it clear that the Bandh would not be allowed on the National Highway. He warned that criminal cases would be filed if anybody obstructed movement on the Highway. Quoting a Supreme Court ruling against obstruction of traffic on the roads, he said the police were duty-bound to act accordingly against the violators. The government decided to deploy huge police force along the route of the planned Sadak Bandh and foil attempts to disrupt traffic on the Highway leading to Bangalore. The police were busy making preventive arrests of TJAC and TRS, BJP and CPI leaders and workers. Around 6,000 personnel on the 190-km stretch and another 2,000 were kept on standby. Around 40 personnel were being deployed for 1 km stretch. DIG Nagireddy who inspected the security arrangements on the National Highway said Section 144 was imposed and the Police Act would be enforced on the Highway. He warned the managements of private colleges and schools that action would be taken against them if they provide vehicles for transporting the agitators participating in the Sadak Bandh. District JAC Chairman Rajender Reddy and some other leaders were taken into preventive custody in Mahbubnagar. The police decided to detain JAC and supporting parties' leaders they reached their destination. No power on the earth could stop the Sadak Bandh, thundered Prof Kodandaram, the TJAC Chairman. He said the issue had gone into the hands of the people and any repressive action to foil the program would be counter-productive. TRS leaders and MLAs T Harish Rao and K T Rama Rao alleged that the denial of permission for the Bandh was undemocratic.

Govt bound by SC order: CM Hyderabad: Turning down the appeals made by the ministers from Telangana to go soft on the Sadak Bandh, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said that the government cannot give permission to any programme that would cause hardships to the people. "Law will take its own course," he told them. Ministers J Gita Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, D K Aruna and Sunita Lakshma Reddy called on Kiran Reddy at his chamber on the Assembly premises and requested him to give permission for the proposed Sadak Bandh. When the media asked him about the Sadak Bandh, which is to be held on Thursday, he shot back saying, "Does the State government have any right to give permission to such requests?" He said that such activities restrict the flow of traffic on highways and cause hardships to people as well. When it was pointed out that the government had not shown such resistance in the past when rasta rokos were organised by the T activists, he said that the situation was different then. "Then, they did not organise such programmes on highways," he said. "The Supreme Court has made it amply clear that no protest or demonstration should be held on the highways which restrict traffic flow and the government will strictly follow the order," he added.

Bandh not permitted: Cyberabad CP Hyderabad: Cyberabad Police Commissioner Dwaraka Tirumala Rao on Wednesday said that 'Sadak Bandh' proposed by Telangana political JAC had no permission. In view of the bandh, elaborate security arrangements were made on the National Highway 44 and at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad. He said that several check-posts were setup at various points and alternative routes were finalised for the benefit of passengers bound for other districts. He warned the agitators of strong action if they violated prohibitory orders. Meanwhile, a strong posse of policemen was deployed on Osmania University campus on Wednesday evening. Many student leaders were taken into preventive custody. As a result, tense situation prevailed and student organisations demanded withdrawal of police.