Hyderabad:
Over 1,100 pro-Telangana activists including leaders of TRS and TJAC were taken into preventive custody at various places in the region during the 'Sadak Bandh' (road blockade) agitation along the Hyderabad-Bangalore highway (NH-7) today.
TRS, TJAC, BJP and other pro-Telangana organisations had organised the blockade in protest against delay in granting statehood to Telangana. The agitation covered the stretch from Shamshabad in Rangareddy district to Alampur in Mahabuubnagar district.
Police had denied permission for the programme and made elaborate security arrangements.
TRS MLAs Jupalli Krishna Rao and Etala Rajender, TJAC chairman M Kodandaram, MLC Srinivas Goud and few other local leaders were arrested for alleged involvement in causing damage to government properties near Alampur in Mahabubnagar district, police said.
The agitation was peaceful, barring minor incidents of damage to some vehicles and properties and the police cleared NH-7 by noon, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Hyderabad Range) Y Nagi Reddy told PTI.
"Barring stray incidents where two RTC buses and two trucks were damaged by pro-Telangana activists, the flow of traffic on the highway was immediately restored. The police ensured there was no large gathering of protesters on the highway," Nagi Reddy said.
The police, deployed in large numbers, chased away protesters whenever they tried to squat on the road.
DIG Reddy said as many as 1,179 protesters were taken into preventive custody as they came on the roads and tried to obstruct the traffic. Most of the protesters were later released.