HYDERABAD: In an early morning raid, protesting students of Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University were picked up by police from the campus. While 17 students were detained from the men’s hostel, cops barged into the girls’ hostel too and allegedly manhandled them. Police have registered a case of attempt to suicide against a student, who was on a hunger strike and let others off after a warning.
The students have been on protest for the past one month demanding creation of more jobs in the horticulture sector for the increasing number of unemployed horticulture graduates in the state. After a massive protest was staged by 500 students last week at the Rajendra Nagar campus, the students intensified their agitation by going on a hunger strike. Students from the Mahbubnagar branch also participated in the protest. The administration which had already snapped water and power supplies to the hostel, had also shut down mess services and resorted to police action to water down the protest.