Life remained paralysed across the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh for the second day today, as thousands of State Road Transport Corporation buses continued to remain off the roads and petrol bunks, shops and establishments remained shut. The 48-hour shutdown called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee ended today.
Barring stray incidents, the situation largely remained peaceful. Tension prevailed at Osmania University, after pro-Telangana students clashed with police. Trouble started after police stopped the students from undertaking a protest march in support of their demand for a separate state, as well as removal of Clause '14f' in the Presidential orders pertaining to government recruitments in Hyderabad city. This resulted in stone pelting by protesters, who set afire two buses of a private engineering college on the city outskirts.
Government offices, including the secretariat, reported low turnout. General visitors stayed away from offices and ministers, too, did not come to their chambers. Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is camping in Tirupati to receive President Pratibha Patil. In the Singareni coal mines, most of the 65,000 workers stayed away from work.
The police arrested JAC president Kodandaram and several others when they were touring the city, violating the prohibitory orders.