Koti witnesses high drama as 2 students climb atop hoarding

Hyderabad: Two students of Osmania University climbed atop an advertisement hoarding in the busy Koti area on Friday morning sending the police into a tizzy. The locals of the area were tense for more than five hours as the roads leading to the site were also blocked. The high drama started at around 7 am when Chintala Vijay Raj and Anand climbed an advertisement hoarding in the front of the Women’s College in Koti. People noticed the youngsters climb the hoarding, but, initially thought they were private workers engaged in fixing of the hoardings.

• Students allege land acquired for industries now used for commercial purpose
• It took over five hours for police, locals and lawmakers to convince them to come down

After scaling the hoarding, one of the youths started to draw attention of the people by showing a bottle of petrol which he carried along and threatened to immolate self if his demands were not met. When one of the TV channels contacted him and tried to know the reason, Vijay Raj said farmers who had given away their land for the city are yet to receive compensation from the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).

They also alleged that the lands acquired for industrial purpose were being now used for commercial purposes, without providing any employment to members of the families whose lands were acquired. According to reports, the students said that if some senior official of Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) would come and talk to them then only they would come down.

Telangana Minister for Heavy Industries J Krishna Rao spoke to the students, promising them that he would probe the matter and take stringent action if irregularities were found. Later, a few leaders of the TRS persuaded the students to end their protest and come down.