Telangana: Ahead of stir, police pick up leaders

Hyderabad: The Congress’ Chalo Assembly on the first day of the Legislature session was largely peaceful. The protesters, including senior Congress leaders, were taken into preventive custody and the rally was prevented from reaching the Assembly.

Traffic was jammed near Gandhi Bhavan for a couple of hours. Close to 900 protesters were arrested, including 700 from Nampally and the surroundings of the Assembly. Over 500 activists were picked up at Cyberabad from Thursday night and around 400 protesters were arrested as a preventive measure and shifted to different police stations. The highways on the city outskirts also witnessed huge security deployed and vehicle checks.

Groups of senior leaders picked from one location were split up and taken to different police stations. They were released late in the evening.  A senior police official posted at the Assembly said the protesters cooperated and did not create trouble. The protesters condemned the arrests, calling it a shame on democracy, and said the government was violating their right to express their opinion on the functioning of the government.

Former Union minister Renuka Chowdhary said that out of fear, the government was trampling on their protest. Among those arrested were TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress leaders Sabitha Indra Reddy, Anjan Kumar Yadav, Mukesh Goud, P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy and Bikshapathi Yadav.