Bandh shuts down Telangana

Hyderabad, Dec. 29: Normal life came to a standstill in nine Telangana districts and partially in Hyderabad today in response to a day-long shutdown called by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in protest against the central government’s “delaying tactics” over creating a separate state.

Public transport services were paralysed while shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in most parts of the region, officials said.

The Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the BJP supported the shutdown.

Students of Osmania and Kakatiya universities in Hyderabad and Warangal joined the bandh. Student bodies plan to plunge into the agitation after the last internal exams tomorrow, said a source.

Services of the state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) in the Telangana region ground to a halt with unions affiliated to the TRS skipping work.

In Hyderabad, the APSRTC ran only partial services. APSRTC employees in some Telangana towns locked bus depots to prevent authorities from taking out buses. At other places, activists of the TRS and other pro-Telangana groups staged a sit-in outside depots.

Police arrested dozens of TRS leaders and workers in Karimnagar, Warangal, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak and other districts. TRS leader Harish Rao and his supporters were arrested early today when they tried to stop buses.

The shutdown had no impact on work at IT companies in Hyderabad.

Workers of the Singareni Collieries in the Telangana region declared support to the bandh and staged protests, wearing black badges.