HYDERABAD: The police foiled the ‘Bus roko’ protest of the TSRTC JAC leaders on Saturday along with their plan of launching an indefinite hunger strike at the office of the TSRTC Employees Union in Vidyanagar, on the 43rd day of protest by TSRTC employees.
However, tension prevailed in parts of the city at TSRTC depots, officers of TSRTC employee unions and at the houses of TSRTC JAC leaders, as the police did their best to ensure there will not be a repeat of violence that occurred as part of the ‘Chalo Tank Bund’ protest last week.
As groups of TSRTC employees tried their best to lay siege to bus depots and prevent buses from operating as part of the protest, the TSRTC operated their buses with hired private drivers and conductors amidst tight security.
The police successfully foiled the protest by arresting many leaders of the TSRTC employees’ unions overnight and keeping a few others under house arrest.
The police deployed heavy bandobust outside the house of E Ashwathama Reddy, the convener of the TSRTC JAC, all ready to arrest him incase he stepped out. As a result, Ashwathama did not get out of his house, and along with his supporters, he launched an indefinite hunger strike from home. DS Chouhan, the Addl CP (law and order) monitored the situation throughout the day.
Learning lessons from previous experiences, the police placed heavy barricades outside the Vidyanagar office of the employees union, so that the protestors could not enter their office.
CPI MP and former Kerala Minister Binoy Viswam visited Pahadi Shariff police station to meet JAC leader Raji Reddy. Raji Reddywas detained after he held protests outside his residence on Saturday.
When contacted, Ashwathama alleged that the police personnel knocked on his door at 3 am on Saturday and cut the power supply of the entire building. We had applied for permission to protest and go on hunger strike, but the police rejected it at 10 pm on Friday. Are we even living in a democracy? Why provisions of Section 144 of IPC have been imposed in the city,” he questioned.