Anti-Telangana protests rock Andhra

Tension prevailed in Vijayawada and elsewhere in Krishna district after the arrest of Lok Sabha member L Rajagopal in Hyderabad. His followers took out rallies and staged sit-in across the city. Some of them attempted suicide by pouring kerosene near the Congress's office in the city, but police intervened and took three of them into custody.

Shops, business establishments, banks and government offices remained closed and the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation suspended its services.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at the bus complex in the city and elsewhere in the district. Several leaders called on Telugu Desam Party MLA D Umamaheswara Rao and others who are on fast-unto-death in Vijayawada.

Two of the four students of Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, who have been holding fast-unto-death for the last three days, were admitted to a hospital after they fell ill, city police commissioner N Sambasiva Rao told PTI.

The situation in the port city is peaceful as no major incident of violence has been reported, he said. The protesters have been holding road blockades, rallies and other forms of protests in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

The students of Sri Krishnadevaraya University held a half-naked protest in Anantapur. District Superintendent of Police M K Singh told PTI that rallies and other forms of protest have been held all over the district. The situation in the district is peaceful, he said. Demonstrations by students and others were also organised in districts like Kadapa, Kurnool and Chittoor in the Rayalaseema region.

Image: Congress MP L Rajagopal being taken into preventive custody at Hyderabad airport on Monday morning

Photograph: SnapsIndia