Long live Telangana !!

Police and students fought pitched battles at the Osmania University on Wednesday as violence erupted during the funeral procession of K. Venugopal Reddy, a student who committed suicide on Tuesday pained at the delay in the formation of Telangana.

A mob at OU set fire to two police vehicles, damaged a third one and pelted stones at the police personnel. Cops then lathicharged the mob and and fired over 30 tear gas shells to disperse them. Over 40 people, including 15 cops were injured in the violence.

Following the clashes, the Telangana Joint Action Committee decided to extend the bandh to Thursday to protest against the lathicharge on students. The APSRTC, which resumed its services on Wednesday, is likely to cancel its services on Thursday in view of bandh.

However, Krishank, the OU JAC member, said RTC was being exempted from the bandh because of Samakka Jatara that will be held on Thursday at Warangal. “We are also exempting petrol bunks from the bandh,” he said.

Earlier in the day, thousands of Telangana activists gathered at the Arts College building where Venugopal’s body was kept. Police in riot gear was deployed in large numbers in the campus.

Trouble erupted near the Ladies Hostel around 11 am, after police prevented students from taking out a procession with the body from the NCC Gate. The situation spiralled out of control and students and police clashed with each other for over an hour.