HYDERABAD:
Sixteen protesters including members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress and other student organisations were detained by the Cyberabad police on Tuesday for trying to enter the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus on Tuesday evening. About seven others including Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika and his brother Raja were also shifted from there when they tried to enter UoH by the police.
The protesters were taken into preventive custody by the police on Tuesday evening after several people gathered at the UoH main gate on Tuesday evening in view of Rohith Vemula’s first death anniversary. While word spread that Radhika, Raja, and Rohith’s childhood friend Riyaz were also detained, a senior official said that they were ony moved to another location.
“Radhika Vemula was permitted to enter the campus and garland Rohith’s bust along with two or three people. But after she addressed the gather, she wanted to enter UoH with many other people who were present there. So we moved from the main gate. Since she is a lady, we took along others so that she should not be alone,” added the official.
The day was marked with a heavy security presence at both the gates of the UoH campus, with the internal security and police personnel posted at the main gate in anticipation of a huge gathering. Those entering the campus were stopped and checked by security officials.
Protests by members of the AAP, Congress and Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) had been continuing outside the main gate since afternoon. While no one was picked up by the police then, trouble began only in the evening at about 5 p.m., more than 200 people gathered at the main gate and tried to enter the campus.
Officials said that only outsiders who were visiting for academic related activities were allowed in with authorisation. Traffic in the evening also went for a toss, as vehicles on one side of the road were blocked for some time due to the protests.
EOM
