Except in the State capital, the bandh call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), in protest against the arrest of people who participated in the ‘rail roko' during the weekend, evoked a good response in the Telangana region on Monday. The agitation was by and large peaceful.
Traffic on the busy Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway was affected for several hours as agitators blocked the road. Twenty people were arrested in this connection.
Demonstrators burnt effigies of Minister for Panchayat Raj K. Jana Reddy at Nagarjunasagar and several other places in protest against the appeal he issued last week to end the general strike in Telangana, which entered the 35th day on Monday.
Three buses were damaged when they were being operated in defiance of the call, and an attempt was made to set a bus on fire at Alwal in Mahabubnagar district.
In the Twin Cities, the bandh call evoked a mixed response as the A.P. State Road Transport Corporation operated buses on most of the routes. However, most of the autorickshaws were off the road. Bus services to district towns were hit. Cinema theatres suspended morning and afternoon shows, while some business establishments remained closed only till afternoon.
