The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) has alleged that the police have arrested a lot of Telangana supporters in view of the march in Hyderabad on Sunday.
A delegation of the JAC, led by M. Kodandaram, met the Congress MPs at the residence of G. Vivekananda on Saturday and complained to him about the high-handed behaviour of the police in arresting hundreds of Telangana activists.
“They are picking up youth and making every effort to scuttle the march,” TJAC leader K. Swamy Goud said. “The government should not hold us responsible for any untoward incident on Sunday. Government has to own up responsibility for any trouble during the march,” he said.
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At the meeting, where Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy was also present, TJAC chairman Kodandaram lamented that on the one hand the government had accorded permission but the police were creating hurdles. “Barricades are being put up everywhere to prevent people from moving towards Necklace Road. They want to show the march as a failure,” Mr. Kodandaram charged. Congress MPs Ponnam Prabhakar, S. Rajaiah, Manda Jagannath, Vivekananda and former MP Keshava Rao said that they had also received information about the arrests.
“I spoke to Home Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy regarding release of the arrested people. Why should the government close Osmania University gates? There should be no obstruction for free movement of people to participate in the march,” he said. Warangal MP Rajaiah alleged that anti-social elements were likely to create trouble.
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‘Awaiting instructions’
Meanwhile, the police have denied complaints of arrest and detention of vehicles carrying Telangana supporters from districts for the march in Hyderabad on Sunday, although senior district-level officers have confirmed that they are awaiting instructions late in the night how to deal with possible trouble mongers.
An officer said that there was likelihood of people who had created trouble on previous occasions for the Telangana issue being detained, but they were yet to get instructions from the police headquarters. Another officer said that vehicles carrying supporters for the march had freely left the district.
The police has picked up several people in the last few days and bound them over for good conduct ahead of the march. All of them have also been released. The leaders of the employees union said that 1,700 of their colleagues had been bound over.