Bandh evokes near-total response

Hyderabad: The bandh call given by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhara Rao opposing the proposal of Rayala Telangana evoked good response across Telangana region on Thursday. Normal life was completely paralysed. Even in Hyderabad, the bandh was near total. All educational institutions declared holiday, business establishments were closed and the APSRTC buses did not come out of the bus stations.

Over 3000 city buses under GHMC limits were off the roads causing severe inconvenience to commuters. The ever-crowded Imliban and Jubilee bus stations wore a deserted look with RTC authorities cancelling bus services to all districts in the Telangana region. Leaders and activists of TRS as well as pro-Telangana parties --BJP, CPI besides T JAC members and RTC recognised union members staged sit-in protest outside the bus depots since early morning and prevented the buses from moving out.

RTC X roads was abuzz with activity on Thursday with TRS, BJP, CPI (ML-ND) conducting separate protests there. TRS senior leader Naini Narsimha Reddy was arrested and shifted to Gandhi Nagar police station. BJP leaders Bandaru Dattatreya, Baddam Bal Reddy, B Venkat Reddy led a rally and burnt Sonia Gandhi's effigy to express their opposition to the proposal of Rayala Telangana. They were arrested by police along with party activists.

Osmania University witnessed some tension and stone pelting when Telangana aligned student unions tried to take out a bike rally from campus to martyrs statue near Gun Park. Four students and a police inspector sustained minor injuries.

TRS greater hyderabad leader Kattela Srinivas Yadav and hundreds of party activists staged rasta-roko at Paradise Chowarastha. Led by Kacham Satyanarayana, TRS leaders held a bike rally in LB Nagar. In Rajendra Nagar area MLC Swamy Goud and TRS activists were arrested when they were asking the shop keepers to pull down the shutters.

Meanwhile advocates, TNGOs and TGOs, IT professionals and members of various organisations supporting Telangana statehood staged protests.

Shops and business establishments were voluntarily shut down in most parts of Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Warangal and other districts.

Coal production in state-owned Singareni Collieries was hit as employees belonging to TRS-affiliated Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TGBKS) stayed away from duties in coal mines spread across Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts affecting coal production. In Adilabad district alone, 20,000 coal workers in 18 mines took part in the strike, affecting production of 40,000 tonnes of coal. Police stepped up security in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana to prevent any untoward incident.

In Karimnagar, Gangula Kamalakar created flutter as he tried to snatch the weapon of a circle inspector following a heated argument with him as the TRS activists were not stopped by the police near agriculture market.

TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday thanked Telangana people for ensuring total success of the bandh. He said traders and the business community besides managements of educational institutions showed a feeling on oneness by their voluntary participation and rejected the proposal of Rayala Telangana.