Telangana tense again: Osmania students injured in lathicharge

The Telangana region was once again on the boil on Wednesday over the statehood issue, with three people committing suicide in a span of 24 hours. Students of the Osmania University protested against the self immolations and were injured in a lathicharge, following a clash with the police.

A truck as well as a police jeep was set on fire by angry students causing the police authorities to take stringent action.

Osmania University students threw stones and raised slogans during the funeral procession of a student, Venugopal Reddy, who had reportedly committed suicide over the Telangana issue on Tuesday.

Reddy was a final-year MCA student of Osmania University and had reportedly left a suicide note making an appeal to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to grant a separate Telangana state.

The angry students claimed that the police were trying to "hijack" the body of the dead student and not allowing a funeral procession.

The police then lathicharged the students and fired teargas shells near the out gate of the Osmania campus.

The body was later taken away to Suryapet in Nalgonda district for cremation, without a procession at Osmania. Meanwhile, Students protested against the police authorities and asked them to leave the university campus.

In a similar incident on Tuesday night, an 18-year-old BSc student, identified as Suvarna, set herself ablaze in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh.

According to police, the deceased had locked herself in a room and lit herself on fire after pouring kerosene.

A suicide note purportedly written by Suvarna said that she was apprehensive if a Telangana state would be formed or not.

Those fighting for a separate Telangana state had earlier given the Centre time till January 28 to come up with a concrete plan and deadline on the formation of the state.

Thereafter, they said all public representatives from the region would resign.

However, the self immolations by students have precipitated matters.

The all-party Joint Action Committee, which had been holding relay hunger strikes in the past over the Telangana issue held an emergency meeting to review the situation after the students' suicide.

In a separate development, MLAs belonging to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) sat on a dharna outside the Speaker's residence on Tuesday night, insisting that their resignations be accepted.

The Congress legislators from Telangana also held a meeting to discuss their resignations before attending the JAC meeting. The Students Action Committee called for a total shutdown in Telangana on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Osmania University continues to burn.