A near total ‘bandh' was observed across the Telangana region on Tuesday, except in Hyderabad, in response to a call given by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and others following suicides by two youths in Warangal district protesting the Centre's rigid attitude on the demand for statehood.
In Hyderabad, the bandh evoked little response as the normal life was not affected in any measure except the closure of some educational institutions. Police took into preventive custody activists enforcing the bandh.
Barring attempts by students to take out rallies, the campus of Osmania University remained peaceful. Activists of TRS and BJP staged a demonstration at Tarnaka but were detained by the police when they tried to proceed towards Secunderabad.
In Karimnagar, junior lecturers boycotted Intermediate spot valuation as a measure of their solidarity to the bandh organised in support of the demand for statehood to Telangana.
Buses of APSRTC plied normally as they were exempted from bandh in view of ongoing SSC examinations, while shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed in districts. Banks were also forcibly closed at several places. Operation of private transport vehicles was hit in rural areas as petrol filling stations were kept closed till evening.
Functioning of courts was also affected in districts and in some courts in Hyderabad as Telangana Advocates Association boycotted duties. A group of advocates tried to storm the house of Government Chief Whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy in Warangal but their attempt was thwarted by the police who chased them away.
Attendance in government offices in districts was thin as some employees in districts did not attend the duties. People, particularly students were put to some hardship in Warangal and Hanamakonda as auto drivers participated in bandh by taking out a rally.
