The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)-sponsored bandh in Telangana districts in protest against repressive measures of the government during the ‘Chalo Assembly’ on Friday evoked poor response on Saturday .
The bandh call almost flopped in the State capital, but for the closure of schools and colleges and partial running of services by APSRTC.
The occupancy in buses, however, was poor as TRS activists held up the fleet at depots for sometime in the morning.
Reports here said three buses were damaged near Nirmal in Adilabad district, resulting in the arrest of five persons.
Adilabad MLA Jogu Ramanna was among 236 persons rounded up in various parts of the district.
Protest programmes
The RTC operated the services normally in Karimnagar where the schools were closed voluntarily. The BJP and CPI organised their own protest programmes independently, burning effigies of the Chief Minister, in the district headquarters.
The coal workers union, affiliated to TRS, made its members wear black badges when they got down to work in underground and open-cast mines at Kothagudem in Khammam district. Rasta roko and rallies were also organised elsewhere in the district.
The TRS and BJP workers took part in separate rallies in Warangal town. The TRS workers went round forcing closure of shops. The TRS MLA T. Harish Rao was arrested in Siddipet when he led a mob in holding up RTC buses. The Sangareddy–Nanded highway was obstructed by the party cadre at Jogipet, Shivampet and Toopran.
An RTC bus was burnt near Remaddula village in Pangal mandal of Mahabubnagar district.
Traffic was stopped for sometime on Hyderabad-Raichur highway in the district near Chinnna Chintakunta.
The buses were confined to depots and moved out with police escort in the afternoon in Nizamabad district. There was no hindrance to autorickshaws.
