In response to a public interest litigation filed by an advocate, the court has issued notices to the home secretaries of the Centre and Andhra Pradesh government besides the state chief secretary, DGP, and Telangana agitation leaders K Chandrasekhar Rao (TRS president) , Swami Goud (convener Telangana employees JAC) and Prof Kondandaram(convener Telangana JAC). All have been directed to reply within six days.
The city police also cane-charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse Osmania University students as they resorted to stone throwing and tried to take out a rally up to the state Assembly. Similar clashes were also witnessed at the Nizam College Hostel near the assembly where students went berserk and damaged several cars.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Akun Sabarwal told reporters that 30 students had been taken into custody. Six policemen were injured in the stone pelting and five cars damaged.
The police have already enforced prohibitory orders, banning meetings, rallies and processions in the city. The security at all prominent government buildings and key installations has been handed over to the para-military forces, which have taken position since Sunday night.
On the sixth day of the general strike over the demand for a separate state of Telangana, the pro-Telangana employees of public transport services joined the indefinite strike, bringing the normal life in the state capital to a stand still.
The regular shuttle train service was also abandoned anticipating a backlash from agitators. Thousands of vehicles were stranded on highways to Bangalore, Mumbai, as the national highways across Telangana districts were blockaded by the agitators.
Autos and seven- seater transport vehicles fleeced commuters in the state capital as all city buses were off the road. In an extraordinary move, the government also issued a special order (GO 913) permitting private buses to operate in the city by just paying a tax of Rs 100 per day. “The private buses can operate for the entire period of strike to facilitate commuters across the state capital spread over a radius of 50 km,” said an official circular.
The general strike has already driven the power generation to a precarious condition with the one lakh employees of the Singareni Collieries joining the strike and causing a coal shortage. The government has already announced a phase wise power cuts for the domestic, industrial and other sectors.
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