HYDERABAD: Violence rocked Osmania University last morning as police teargassed students trying to take out a rally while another group of students began an indefinite fast demanding immediate carving of separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh.
Police burst teargas shells as students, angered at being prevented from taking out a motorbike rally to Raj Bhavan, pelted stones on the constabulary at the main gate of the university. Police also arrested several students for defying ban on any gathering of five or more people.
Tension grew on the campus as dozens of students launched an indefinite fast at the Arts College despite arrests of students in Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana.
The Osmania campus turned into a battlefield for the fourth time in a week as students clashed with police. Armed policemen were seen chasing stone pelting students around the campus.
Police continued to arrest dozens of students reaching Osmania University from different parts of the city and other districts. The university was under police siege since Sunday night to foil the indefinite fast.
Despite the police crackdown, the OU JAC succeeded in pitching a tent in front of the Arts College and launching the fast at 11am.
Political JAC convenor M Kodandaram and some other leaders also managed to reach the venue but other political leaders were arrested at the main gate while trying to enter the university.
The sprawling university campus was under siege by the police and central paramilitary forces, who have sealed all the routes leading towards the campus to scuttle OU JAC plans.
