Hyderabad:
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) workers protesting against party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's arrest, went on the rampage at several places in the state, including the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad on Monday.
The TRS workers vandalised rooms and damaged property and 20 crude country bombs were found near the university.
Osmania has closed all colleges on its campus till December 3, after 20 students were injured in a police lathicharge during the protest. Schools in the area have been closed and bus services have been hit.
The TRS president and other leaders had squatted on the road on Sunday after Rao's convoy was stopped on the way to Siddipet, where he was to have begun his hunger strike. Police took them into custody amid loud protests by party workers. Rao refused to seek bail and called for a bandh on Monday. He also continued his fast in prison.
Normal life was also thrown out of gear at several other places. The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport cancelled its bus services in Hyderabad and other Telangana districts like Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Warangal, leaving many commuters stranded.
Many educational institutions and business establishments remained closed in the city due to the bandh. TRS leaders and activists squatted in front of bus stations in various districts.
"We are expressing our protest by sitting in front of bus stations. People of Telangana are moved by the arrest of Chandrasekhara Rao. TV footage of lathicharge on students and TRS workers is disturbing. We are getting voluntary support from employees, teachers, students, businessmen and all sections of the society," senior TRS legislator T Harish Rao said in Siddipet.
Harish Rao appealed to party men and supporters to observe restrain and not to resort to violence. However, there were reports of bandh supporters damaging buses in Hyderabad, Nalgonda, Karimnagar and other places in the region.
A report from Karimnagar said TRS leaders blocked roads and staged demonstrations in front of the bus stations there.
Road transport corporation employees have pledged their support to the dharna staged by the TRS leaders. BJP is also planning a peace rally in the town.
Chandrasekara Rao, meanwhile, continued his fast in prison at Khammam for a separate Telangana. "His (Chandrasekhara Rao's) health is being monitored round-the-clock by a team of doctors from Khammam Government Hospital as well as specialists from Warangal. His blood pressure is under control," Parimala Nutan, Additional Superintendent of Police of Khammam district said.