HYDERABAD: The police foiled the plans of Telangana Joint Action Committee and other organisations to hold the ‘Aata, Paata, Maata’ programme planned at Tank Bund on Saturday. About 2,000 police officers were posted in and around Tank Bund.
The programme was planned on the lines of ‘Million March’, held during the struggle of formation of Telangana. The police as a preventive measure arrested about 3,500 persons of the committee, CPI, CPI-ML (new democracy) and other organisations across the State.
TJAC chairperson Prof. Kodandaram was taken into custody from his house and later shifted to Bolaram police station. Several police officers were posted outside his house. The first ‘Million March’ was held on March 10, 2011, to highlight the demand of the people of Telangana for a separate state.
Around afternoon, when Mr Kodandaram came out and started for Tank Bund, police took him into custody and shifted to the station.
Prior to his detention, he told mediapersons that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wanted democracy at the national level. “But when we want to hold protest, he is behaving like a dictator and intends to rewrite the history of Telangana statehood in a way favouring him.”
He added that the Chief Minister did not want the people to know that Telangana was an outcome of people’s struggle. “Though the police had prevented us from holding the event, we have a moral victory as thousands of people were planning to turn and few dared to get arrested by the police,” he said.
Several activists were also rounded up at railway stations, bus stations and MMTS stations while they were on way to participate in the programme.
The police had set up several check points on roads leading to the city from various districts.
Massive security beef-up to check ‘Spoorthi’ march
Unlike during the ‘Million March’ in 2011, security was beefed up across the city and checkposts were set up on highways connecting the city to control cadres from marching to Tank Bund as part of the ‘Million March Spoorthi’.
Armed forces, QR teams and Special Police parties were deployed all over, and plainclothes police kept a watch at the residences of important leaders who were likely to take part in the march. Passengers at railway stations in the city were also thoroughly screened and allowed out. Keeping in view of the Reddy Poru Yatra agitation in October last, during which crowds were mobilised through social Media, police kept a vigil on social media activities as well.
While Tarnaka Street No 1, which housed Prof. Kodandaram’s residence, was 'cordoned off’ from Friday evening and continued till he was arrested on Saturday afternoon, traffic movement was restricted on Tank Bund much before 11 am as announced by police. In districts, detentions began as early as from Friday morning and people were kept in custody till late Saturday evening.
