Andhra Pradesh Police foiled the attempt of Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K. Chandrasekhar Rao to launch indefinite hunger strike by arresting him and taking him in judicial custody on Sunday.
Mr. Rao was taken into custody at Alaganur on the Karimnagar-Warangal border while he was on his way to Rangadhampalli, the venue of the indefinite fast near Siddipet in Medak district. He was shifted to Khammam, amidst high drama, and produced before judicial first class magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
The TRS president refused to apply for bail and announced his decision to go ahead with the hunger strike in the Khammam sub-jail where he was lodged after examination by doctors in the presence of the Magistrate.
The police registered cases under Sections 114, 117, 202 and 209, among other sections, against Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao while cases have also been registered against senior leaders G. Vijayarama Rao and Nayani Narsimha Reddy who were accompanying him.
Protests
The arrests sparked off a series of protests across Telangana region with TRS activists and students conducting rasta rokos and demonstrations in different districts.
While a TRS activist from Nalgonda sustained serious injuries when he attempted to immolate himself near L.B. Nagar on the city outskirts, several students were injured in the police lathi-charge when they tried to take out a rally from Osmania University to Telangana Matryrs memorial.
Pitched battles were fought between students and police in Osmania University campus while students in Kakatiya University, Telangana University in Mahbubnagar and Mahatma Gandhi University of Nalgonda staged protests against the arrest of the TRS president.
Several TRS MLAs including T. Harish Rao, K. Sammaiah and E. Rajender made unsuccessful attempts to begin an indefinite fast, but even they were taken into custody.
Expressing their solidarity with the TRS president’s fast, mass organisations like Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti as well as employees unions like the Telangana NGOs Association staged demonstrations in Warangal, Karimnagar and Medak districts.
