By IANS,
Hyderabad : The Osmania University here again turned into a battle zone Wednesday as students agitating for a separate Telangana state fought pitched battles with police, who fired rubber bullets, lobbed teargas shells and also burst sound bombs.
The campus remained tense as clashes continued through the second consecutive day, eyewitnesses said.
One student was injured when police fired rubber bullets to disperse a group pelting stones at the police station located on the campus. Another student sustained injuries when a teargas shell hit him.
One television reporter was also injured in the stone pelting by students.
The sprawling campus echoed with firing and loud report of sound bombs — whose deafening explosion helps in dispersing mobs — as students repeatedly clashed with police while trying to take out a rally in defiance of orders banning assembly of five or more in the city.
Trouble began when students tried to march out of the campus but were prevented by the police at the main gate.
Police officers asked students to return to the campus as prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code banning any gathering of five or more people were in force in the city.
However, students tried to force their way through security barricades and pelted stones. The police retaliated with teargas.
Leaders of the students’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) said they were determined to go ahead with the rally to Gun Park, near the state assembly.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad Police Commissioner A.K. Khan clarified before the state human rights commission that additional police and central paramilitary forces were not deployed around the campus.
In a report submitted to the commission, the city police chief said only adequate number of forces were mobilised to tackle the protests.
Earlier, taking a serious note of the allegations of police excesses and the demand from Telangana lawyers to withdraw police forces, the state human rights commission directed the police chief to submit a report.
Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) convenor M. Kodandaram was arrested when he was heading towards Osmania University.
Kodandaram was taken into custody at the RTC cross roads for violating prohibitory orders, police said. The arrest triggered strong protest from students and other pro-Telangana groups.
As many as 31 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed in Hyderabad to help in maintaining law and order. A total of 70 companies have been rushed to the Telangana region to tackle the protests.