Amid crackdown Congress holds protest

HYDERABAD: The Congress conducted its 'Vidyarthi, Nirudyoga Jung Siren' agitation amid the arrests of its leaders and activists and a lathicharge which left many of them injured. Police said they had denied permission for the protest.

Hundreds of Congress activists went in a procession from the Rajiv Gandhi statue at Dilsukhnagar to LB Nagar crossroads and garlanded the statue of the statehood movement's first martyr, Srikantha Chary and bathed it in milk.

TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy was arrested along with Congress MLAs, MLCs and frontal organisation leaders and shifted to police stations across the twin cities. Saroornagar, Uppal, Chaitanyapuri and other police stations were packed with arrested Congress leaders.

Earlier, tension prevailed at the TPCC chief's residence at Jubilee Hills as the police took custody of Revanth Reddy when he set off to participate in the agitation. Activists argued with the police and raised slogans against the TRS government for stopping them. A large number of police personnel was deployed at Revanth Reddy's residence.

Revanth Reddy criticised the police for blocking him and asked to see the order to arrest him. He said the TRS government was suppressing the voice of Opposition parties. "We decided to conduct an agitation programme on a peaceful note on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2, but the police created problems", he alleged and sat on the floor in protest.

Vehicular traffic was affected on the LB Nagar-Secunderabad roade. As a precautionary measure, officials shut down the Metro Rail station at Dilsukhnagar. 

TPCC working president T. Jayaprakash 'Jagga' Reddy, Sangareddy DCC president Nirmala, Jaya Reddy and other Congress leaders were arrested and shifted to Kondapur police station. Speaking to reporters, Jagga Reddy said youths played a key role in the achievement of Telangana state aspiring government jobs. For the last seven years, the TRS government utterly neglected the employment issue, he said. He condemned the arrest of Congress leaders during the peaceful agitation programme.

Meanwhile, TPCC state leadership called upon its cadre to burn the effigies of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and minister K.T. Rama Rao on Sunday in protest against the police hurdles for the Jung Siren agitation programme.

Congress leader Amer Javed was seriously injured in a police lathicharge. A sub inspector allegedly beat him with lathi at LB Nagar. Youth Congress national president B.V. Srinivas, TPCC spokesperson Kuruva Vijay Kumar, activist Mohan Naik, NSUI state president Balmuri Venkat and others were also injured.

Osmania University student Delhi Kalyan set himself on fire in protest against “police highhandedness.” Revanth Reddy spoke to the injured activists, who were admitted in private hospitals.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle from Chaitanyapuri police station, TPCC working president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud alleged that police behaved rudely with the Congress men.