Police round up protesting TRS leaders, activists in Hyderabad

Several leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) were arrested by the police Friday as they were trying to march to the Andhra Pradesh assembly to press the demand for a separate Telangana state.

Members of Parliament G. Vivek and Manda Jagannatham, former MPs Vinod and Jitender Reddy were among the leaders arrested near the assembly for defying prohibitory orders. The leaders took police by surprise and appeared at Nizam Club opposite the assembly building.

"We strongly condemn the police repression. Our democratic right to express dissent is being suppressed," said Vivek, who along with Jagannatham recently quit Congress to join the TRS.

TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao's daughter Kavitha, who heads TRS' cultural wing Telangana Jagruthi, and her supporters, were arrested when they reached Indira Park, three km from the assembly building.

"Thousands of people will reach here and march towards the assembly," she told reporters before she was arrested and was taken away in a police vehicle.
TRS leader Swami Goud and others were arrested near Jubliee Bus Station in Secunderabad.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader N.V.S. Prabhakar and his supporters were taken into custody when they tried to proceed towards the assembly.
Earlier, police arrested 30 activists of the Communist Party of India (CPI) after raiding the party office. A CPI leader was also injured in the baton charge.