Violence on OU campus as students' rally foiled

Hyderabad: Osmania University campus on Wednesday turned into a battlefield, when members of Telangana Vidhyarti Parishat (TGVP) pelted stones at the police near NCC Gate. The police stopped a bike rally by TGVP to Gunpark in support of 'Sadak Bandh' which was scheduled on March 21. A large number of students on bikes reached the NCC Gate where they were stopped the police. Heated arguments ensued between both and the infuriated students hurled stones at the police. They also burnt effigies of Telangana MPs and MLAs over their failure to achieve separate state. TGVP president Srihari said, "We wanted to take out a peaceful bike rally ahead of the sadak bandh. But plain-clothed policemen stopped and provoked us." He attributed violence to the adamant attitude of police. He demanded an apology from Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for his statement in the State Assembly that not a rupee would be allocated to Telangana. Srihari contented that the CM's statement amounted to 'insulting' the Telangana people He lashed out at the people's representatives in the region for not reacting to the remarks and termed them as inefficient. He said that they were neglecting the statehood demand of the people in the region. He warned of intensifying the agitation if arrests continued during the 'sadak bandh'. Ramesh, Anji, Lingaswamy, Jagan and Anjaneyulu were among those who took part in the rally. The police claimed that the rally was blocked in view of the prohibitory orders in force in twin cities. East Zone DCP R Jaya Lakshmi supervised the security arrangements.