Tension in Osmania varsity, police foil protest by unemployed students

Hyderabad, March 24: Tension prevailed on the campus of Osmania University here on Friday as police detained leaders of some students' groups to foil the protest over the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) exam paper leak.

Police picked up student leaders from hostels and shifted them to Osmania University police station.

Police had denied permission to students' Joint Action Committee for the Vidyarthi Nirudyoga Maha Nirasana Deeksha or protest by students and unemployed.

The organisers had planned to take out a march from Arts College on the campus to Telangana Martyrs' Memorial Gun Park near the Assembly building in the heart of the city.

When some protesters gathered in front of Arts College, police arrested them. Holding placards, students raised slogans of 'Khabardar KCR'.

A student tried to set himself afire on the campus, giving some tense moments to the police. Some police personnel swung into action to stop the student from taking the extreme step.

The Osmania University was the nerve centre of students' protest during the Telangana movement. Self-immolation of a student during one such protest had intensified the movement.

Students' JAC is now looking to launch a similar movement on the problems faced by the unemployed in the state.

Telangana Unemployed JAC chairman Bheem Rao Nayak condemned the arrests. He said their movement can't be suppressed with arrests. He said protests would be organised from Saturday in all universities and districts.

He criticised Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for not responding to an issue which has shocked 30 lakh unemployed in the state.

The organisers demanded that the TSPSC Chairman and members should be removed from their posts over the paper leak. They also demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a sitting judge.

The police also stopped leaders of the opposition Congress party from reaching Osmania University to participate in the protest by placing them under house arrest. State Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy and other leaders were placed under house arrest.

Meanwhile, the students' wing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) also staged a protest on Osmania University campus against the Congress. The workers of BRSV raised slogans of 'Revanth Reddy go back'. The protestors tried to set afire an effigy of the Congress leader but were detained by the police.